Who is Clockwork?
by ClockworksMan
Summary: What exactly became of Tadashi after his untimely demise? He became the Ghost of Time, Clockwork himself. But what would happen if he tried to reunite with his family? This story is set in my Clockwork!Tadashi AU(Literally everything is the same except Tadashi is Clockwork) His backstory will be fully expanded upon throughout the story. (Hints of TadaHoney and Meddling Minutes)
1. Intro

Up in a mysterious clock tower in the darkest part of the Ghost Zone floats a blue ghost in a purple cloak quietly staring at constantly changing round screens. He seems to be focused on one screen in particular. A boy in armor of an identical purple flying on a robot in similar red armor.

The ghost smiles and bows his head as he caresses a gloved hand on the screen. "So this is what you've been up to, huh, Hiro?" His voice echoes slightly as a tear slides down his cheek. "You didn't have to avenge my death, you knucklehead. But…. I can't say I'm not proud."

"Hey, how are things going in here, Daddy?" A young female ghost with silver hair and a black and white suit pokes out of her room. She received no reply as 'Daddy' continues to watch the same screen. "Clockwork?" She gets closer to him. "Are you…. crying?"

He ignores her question, but turns to her with bright red eyes. "How would you like to visit the human realm, Dani?"

 **I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but it's really just an introduction to the full story. In case you didn't know, this is a fanfic for my Clockwork!Tadashi AU. It'll likely be primarily oneshots, but they will be following a basic storyline. I hope you enjoyed this and come back for more! :D**


	2. Chapter 1

Clockwork finds himself flying towards a large purple castle as he reviews the situation to himself. "The only thing keeping me from visiting the human realm is my lack of human form…. Dorathea and her people should be able to remedy this for me."

He comes to a halt at the gate and looks to the large hooded archer. "I wish to see Princess Dorathea." The archer pulled his bow as if to ask for identification. The time ghost simply lowered his hood. "I'm certain she knows me quite well." The archer lowers his bow and signals for the other guard to raise the gate.

It didn't take long for him to find his way to Dorathea's throne room. The green princess is startled by Clockwork's presence. "Clockwork!" She stands from her throne and makes her way to him. "What brings you to the kingdom today?"

"If I recall correctly, you owe me a favor for my recent assistance." He monotonously muses.

"I see… What exactly do you wish of us that you couldn't do from the tower?"

"I require a charm. An amulet to be more accurate. One that can grant me a human form. Nothing too fancy; it just needs to get the job done."

"Well, you've certainly come to the right place! As I'm sure you know, I crafted both mine and my brother's amulets along with a ring that does just as you request. Follow me!" She leads him to a room fit for a blacksmith and witch combined. "Now, before we start the process of creation, is there a particular human you wish to mimic or do you want just an average human form?"

The master of time opens his palm to the air to summon a time window. The window shows a young adult male with scruffy black hair and a baseball cap. As the ghost begins to reply, he shifts from his toddler form to his young adult form. "Are you capable of doing someone from the past? One who is now dead?"

"As long as I have some of their blood, I can't see why I couldn't do that."

"Ah, so my assumptions were correct." He reaches into his cloak and pulls out a vile of the man's blood. "I presume this will be enough?"

She takes the vile from him and inspects it. "Certainly more than enough, but that may come in handy later." She places the vile onto the metal working table next to an empty diamond gem. "All I require now is some of your ectoplasm. I have the rest of the ingredients on hand." Her dainty hand grabs a syringe. Clockwork politely rolls up his sleeve, allowing her to do as she needed.

After a few hours of hard work, the amulet is complete.

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter! The next one should be him finally going to visit Hiro and the team. Hope you have a nice day and enjoy my fics!**


	3. Chapter 2

A tall man of fair skin a long black hair walks up to the door of the Lucky Cat Cafe, a teenage girl with similar black hair tamed by a red beanie and ponytail following close behind. The man takes a deep breath. "This is it, Danielle. Prepared to meet the human side of your family?"

She nods with a big smile. "I'll finally have a family! I've never been more excited!"

"That makes one of us." He looks down and mumbles to himself. "I hope this wasn't a mistake." He slowly opens the door despite the "Closed" sign advising against it. He glances up to see a boy with big eyes and scruffy black hair cleaning a table.

"Sorry, we're closed. Come back to-…." As he looks up his eyes widen at the familiar face. "Tadashi?" He shakes his head. "No! This must be a trick! You can't be alive!"

Tadashi smirks shyly. "Well, you're half right. It's very hard to explain. But, yes, Hiro, It's me."

Hiro looks him over skeptically not ready to believe. "If you really are Tadashi, then what happened to you? Why do you look different? And who's that?" He jabs a finger in Dani's direction.

"It really is a long story. To sum it up, I'm a ghost now and this is Danielle, my adoptive daughter."

Dani rolls her eyes at her dad's formality. "You can just call me Dani with an "I". So, you must be my Uncle Hiro, huh? I thought you'd be shorter." Tadashi can barely hold in a chuckle at that remark.

Hiro ignores that last part and shouts. "You make it sound like this is a simple thing to process!" He begins to pace back and forth as he tears up and runs his fingers through his hair. "Do you even realize how much pain you put us through?! If you can visit now, why couldn't you have visited sooner?! Make it so we didn't have to spend hours crying?! I went night after night without sleep because of you!"

"If I could've, I would've. Like I said before, this is a very complicated situation!" He steps closer to his brother. "The important thing is that I'm here now." He opens his arms, knowing what will happen next.

Hiro practically head-butts him in the chest as he goes in for a hug, tears rushing down his face. "I missed you, nerd." Tadashi's arms curl around him in a warm embrace.

"Hiro? What's going on in there?" A woman with short brown hair comes out of the kitchen with a fresh tray of cookies. As soon as she saw Tadashi, those cookies were goners. There was a loud crash of the tray hitting the ground that broke up the hug.

Brown eyes meet green as she rushes over and puts her hands on his cheeks. "Where have you been? Are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened to your eye?!" She gently runs her thumb over the lightning bolt scar, her eyes filling with tears. "Who did this to you?"

Tadashi gently pushes her hand off of his cheeks. "The scar doesn't matter, Aunt Cass. I'm fine, well, sorta. I am in the sense that I'm not in pain and I'm able to stand. The whole having a pulse thing on the other hand is a slightly different story."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm still dead. I'm just a ghost. But, don't worry, I'm happy and I'm here to visit for a few days."

Dani's face lights up. "You never told me we were staying! I could've had time to pack and stuff!"

He smiles at her enthusiasm. "We'll have plenty of time to go back and grab a few things while they're asleep."

Cass still feels a bit uncertain of the situation. "Okay, so you're a ghost now… That's a bit strange, but I can accept that. So, Uh, who exactly is this little girl?"

"Hey! I'm 14 now! I'm not little anymore!"

"She's my adoptive daughter of three years as of this past Monday." He is quite proud of this fact.

Hiro's eyes widen. "Three years?! You've only been dead for a couple of months!"

Tadashi awkwardly averts his eyes. "See, that's the part that makes this so complicated…"

"Well, now you've intrigued me. Now you have to tell us." The younger of the brother's pulls up a chair and sits down, prepared for a long story.

"I'd rather not get into too many details about my past. Some of it is, well, very sensitive for lack of a better word. All you really need to know is that I am the Ghost of Time. I go by Clockwork now. When I died, there was a malfunction with my powers that sent me back to the beginning of time. Like I said, it's difficult to explain without getting too detailed." He looks back up at them hoping neither of them are weirded out by his age.

Hiro is in absolute awe. "That's so cool! Who knew you'd be this cool as an old man!"

"Please don't call me that."

"What? Oh! Old?"

"Yes. I'd prefer you not phrase it in such a way. If you must mock my age, please use 'experienced'."

Dani inwardly chuckles. "But you are old!"

The ancient ghost sighs deeply.

You can practically see the gears turning in Aunt Cass's head. "I always thought ghosts would look different."

"I figured you'd say something like that." He says dryly, still not over the old jokes. "This isn't my natural form." He pulls the amulet out from underneath his black sweater. "This amulet is merely masking my appearance so I look like a human. Personally, I'd like my ghost form to remain a private thing due to it being quite intimidating. Danielle on the other hand is only half ghost. If she so chooses, she can show you her's"

Dani smirks. "You guys ready for this?" They both nod, Hiro more excited than Cass. "I'm going ghost!" She puts her arms up as a white ring appears around her waist and brightly flashes as it transforms her whole body. Her hair now snow white and her eyes glowing green.

Hiro's big brown eyes light up with excitement. "Wow! How do you do that? How is this even scientifically possible?"

They continue to chat about ghosts, but Clockwork's mind has wondered elsewhere. "I do apologize. Could you watch her for a bit? I have some business to attend to at the tower." Before he could even get a reply, he exits the café and heads into an alleyway to change into a ghost and teleport himself to the Ghost Zone.

 **Woo! This one was longer than I had intended! Sorry if it got a bit rambly towards the end. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Chapter 3 should be out shortly!**


	4. Chapter 3

The door creaks open as the time ghost slips inside to the ambient sound of clocks ticking. He makes his way over to a small, yet tall table that holds a silver and green thermos. "Seems we're staying in the human realm longer than intended. That means I have to keep you nearby at all times, Daniel."

The thermos decides to state its opinion. "How many times must I tell you? DO. NOT. REFER TO ME. AS YOU WOULD REFER. TO MY YOUNGER SELF!"

"You're acting as immature as Vladimir right now anyway." A growl resonates from the thermos in response. "Back to my point. We need to have a talk before I allow you to enter the human realm thermos or otherwise." A gloved hand picks up the thermos and removes the lid, allowing a flame-haired ghost to escape. "Can I expect you to take this serious, Dan?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever gets you to shut up faster."

He shifts to an elder form and narrows his eyes. "I can still have you executed, you know." As he changes topic his form turns to a toddler. "Now, I have some rules to set. Rule number one:" He grabs a prison collar from his desk and forces it around Dan's neck. "You are not to remove this collar at any point in time while you're there. It hinders your powers to only flight, intangibility, and shape shifting. Rule number 2: Present a human form at all times. It's only polite to not scare off those who are housing us. And, finally, Rule number 3: Play nice. I cannot emphasize this enough. They're housing two unexpected house guests and you. You could at least show them a little respect. Do you know what 'please' and 'thank you' mean?"

"Well, duh! I'm rude not stupid! I can handle this. Besides," The green ghost ventures to hug Clockwork around the neck. "They're family, after all."

"A. We're not married. And B. Don't do things like THIS" He forces Dan off of him. "in front of them! They are completely unaware of my sexuality and I think it best to remain that way for now."

"I make no promises, Clocky." His face is filled with a big, mischievous gently pecks Clockwork's cheek. "So, when are we leaving?"

With a press of a button, Dan is sucked back into the thermos. "Now."

* * *

After packing up all the things he and Dani would need for the next 3 days, he returns himself to the human realm and enters the cafe as a human. Tadashi had thought this was going to be simple task. Unfortunately, he arrived later in the morning than he had thought and the cafe was open. The biggest problem? The whole Big Hero 6 team was hanging out there.

The blond man was the first to spot him. "Wait. Is that…?"

Hiro attempts to distract them. "Who are you talking about, Fred?"

Fred looks at Hiro in confusion. "I never said anything about it being a person."

A larger man sees Tadashi too. "How is this possible?"

Hiro begins to panic in attempt to hide Tadashi from them. "What's possible? Nothing's possible!"

The ghost decides to just let it happen and walks over to their table. "No, it's okay, Hiro. They can know."

A woman with bright pink glasses looks up at him in disbelief. "Ta-da-shi…?" She nervously readjusts her glasses. "Is it really you?"

He takes a deep breath. "Yes. I'm sorry for being gone for so lo-" He's interrupted by slap across the face.

"You're sorry?! We've already moved on! We thought you were dead! What the hell is wrong with you?! Where have you been?!" The woman's face is red with rage.

"Well, he is dead. He can't help that fact, Honey Lemon." Hiro stated simply. He's had the whole night to come to accept the truth.

The large man looks at him in shock. "How can you say that?! He's standing right there!"

An athletic women chips in her opinion. "He's right, Hiro. What's wrong with you?"

"He's not lying." Tadashi sets down the big bag and pulls up a chair. "I am dead. I just simply finally have time in my afterlife to visit for a bit."

There's a long silence before Honey Lemon leans over in her seat and gives him a hug. "Sorry for slapping you. I didn't know."

"It's okay. I deserved it."


	5. Chapter 4

After unpacking and settling in a bit, Dani and Tadashi relax in the living room with Hiro, Aunt Cass, and Mochi the calico cat for family movie night. Dani and Hiro are currently 'discussing' which movie is better: Frankenstein's Monster or the original Dracula. Tadashi on the other hand is focusing on the thermos, more importantly, the contents. He assumes Dan has fallen asleep at this point, so he doesn't want to move the thermos about too much. He thinks internally, "Should I just tell them? They've taken everything else okay, so it should be fine, right? But what if this is the part that freaks them out?"

His thoughts are disrupted by his aunt. "What's on your mind, sweety?"

"I-uh, it's nothing. Nothing important."

"Are you sure about that? I know when you're worried."

Hiro and Dani are now both fully paying attention. Tadashi looks back down at the thermos and decides what to say. "It's really not important. Just a prisoner I have to keep an eye on."

Hiro can't help but smirk at how crazy he sounds. "Oh, I'm sure that thermos committed some major crimes!"

The time ghost just rolled his eyes. "It's not the thermos. It's who's in it."

Cass cocks her head. "Wow, small ghost."

Dan shouts from within the thermos. "HEY! I'M FAR FROM SMALL! I CAN AND WILL DESTROY YOU!"

"Oh, I had assumed you had fallen asleep by now, Dan, based on how quiet you were."

"You told me to be quiet so they wouldn't notice me. Not my fault that you gave me away."

He just sighs then looks to Hiro and Cass. "May I allow him to get out and stretch his legs? Possibly join us for the movie? He has a collar on that hinders his powers, so don't worry about him trying to kill you."

Cass in uncertain. "Only if he plays nice and doesn't break anything."

Hiro is confused by Tadashi's kindness. "You're being awfully nice to a prisoner that you have to keep a close eye on."

"We have an… arrangement." He uncaps the thermos and lets Dan out.

Dan stands up and stretches his hair almost touching the ceiling. "Huh, small room." He smirks and lounges himself on top of Tadashi's lap. "Thanks for letting me out, Clocky!" He snuggles up with him.

"Wow, you've managed to break all 3 rules within a 2 minute period. Why am I not surprised." Clock sarcastically complained.

"Oh, right! My bad!" He changes into his human form and continues to snuggle him. "The last rule, however, I refuse to follow. You're too cute as a human!"

Tadashi blushes bright red. "Please get off me. Now."

"I don't know, man. I'm not a big fan of following orders!" Tadashi points the thermos at him. "Fair point!" He rolls off of his lap and onto the floor.

"So, how formal is your arrangement?" Hiro mocks.

Cass smiles softly. "You can be honest with us, Tadashi."

He shyly looks down at his lap and mumbles, "Well, uh, Dan and I are a couple…."

Neither of them heard him. "What?"

Dani gets up and grabs Dan by the hair shoves his face onto Tadashi's to make them kiss. "Here's your hint!" Both of their faces go bright red as they close their eyes and lean into the kiss.

Hiro chuckles. "Oh! I see now."

Tadashi pulls away, embarrassed after Dan puts his forked tongue in his mouth. "Dan, stop. Not here." He glances over at Cass and Hiro and smirks. "Surprise. I'm bisexual."

Hiro shrugs. "Works for me. Now, Dracula or Frankenstein?"


	6. Chapter 5

This morning was full of odd things Hiro never thought he'd first being the most normal of them all. Tadashi was fast asleep on his bed with a dogpile consisting of Dan, Dani and Mochi on top of him. Dani wasn't so much on top of Dan and Tadashi as she was resting on Tadashi's pillow. She may as well have been on top of him, though.

Hiro tilts his head groggily at this sight. "Tadashi? Um…" He glances at the robot clock on the wall. "It's almost 10am. We should probably get up and help out Aunt Cass."

Tadashi peeks his eyes open. "I know. I don't really seem to have the option of doing that, though, it would seem." His scarred eye trails over to Dan. "When I left the thermos unlocked last night, I didn't actually think he'd get out. Let alone do this." He scrunches his nose as Dan yawns and snuggles his face. He lets out a sigh, reaching up and shaking Dan's shoulder. "Wake up, you big oaf!"

"5 more minutes…." Dan groaned out as he rolls over, hogging the blanket. Tadashi begins to fall off the bed, but stops himself from hitting the ground by floating last minute.

Hiro flinches at this sight. "Oh yeah. I forgot. You're a ghost now."

Tadashi pretends not to hear that. He grips Dan's hair and lifts his head up. "Come on, Dan. If I'm getting up, you have to. You haven't forgotten the legal binding, have you?"

"Ugh. No, give me a moment." He smacks the time ghost's hand off of him as his sits up and rubs his eyes. He pinches Dani's cheek. "If I have to get up, you do too!"

"HEY! OWOWOW!"

"DANIEL JAMES FENTON! BEHAVE YOURSELF!"

Hiro just dead pans and goes downstairs. "I'll see you three in a moment."

At the sound of Dani's distress a red box opens up and releases a white balloon man with little black eyes. He waddles on over to where Dani lays rubbing her cheek. "Hello. I am Baymax, Your personal healthcare companion." Dani looks up at him in confusion as 10 emojis appear on the robot's chest. "On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain."

"Umm… Maybe a 1. I'm okay, really." She turns to look at her proudly smiling father in pure confusion.

"I will scan you now." Baymax looks her up and down. "Scan complete. You have small bruise on your left cheek. You also have an increasingly low temperature radiating from the center of your chest. And lastly, there's an unknown substance mixed in with your genetic makeup."

"You're quite a smart robot, huh? Did you create him, dad?"

Tadashi nods proudly. "He's the last thing I built before my death. Well, technically. The original Baymax is lost in an alternate dimension. This Baymax is a rebuilt version that Hiro put together. Quite a perfect replication if you ask me."

Dan smirks as he slips on a pair of skinny jeans. "I never would've pinned you as a helping people kind of guy."

"Yeah, I was a very different man in my lifetime. As you know, the afterlife changes people." Tadashi states simply as he himself begins to get dressed for the day.

A pink lollipop pops out of Baymax's hand. "You have been a good girl. Have a lollipop."

Dani takes it happily. "Thanks, but I should probably wait until after breakfast to enjoy it. I hope you don't mind."

"I do not mind. I encourage your healthy eating habits. Are you satisfied with your care?" He tilts his head sweetly.

"Yep! You're free to go back to your box!" And with that the robot disappears into his little red box.

The ghost trio makes their way downstairs to the cafe. Tadashi leads them down as he secures the thermos to his belt just in case. "Good morning, Aunt Cass."

The cafe is already open, so, as you'd expect, the nerd herd is already there waiting on Hiro's shift to end. All 4 sets of eyes go to Tadashi as he makes his way over. Before he sits down he turns to the Dannys. "Go on into the kitchen. Aunt Cass has already made up breakfast for us. Come back in here to eat, alright?" They both nod and leave. Tadashi goes ahead and sits down in an empty seat at the table. "So, how are you guys?" Since he's still not used to interacting with humans again, he's super awkward right now.

Fred's the first to speak up. "And the mystery that is Tadashi thickens!"

"Seriously, who exactly are they?" Wasabi questions.

"They're kind of my family in the Ghost Zone. Danielle, the small one, is my adoptive daughter. Dan, the bigger one, he's… He's complicated." He looks down nervously, not certain how to explain Dan and his relationship.

Gogo can't help but smirk. "You guys are a thing, aren't you?"

"No! Maybe…. I'm not sure what we are." He glances over at Dan as he approaches the table. "Like I said, it's complicated."

Dan sets down the two plates as Dani plops herself down in Tadashi's lap, shivering and pulling on her hoodie. She feels the warmth of Tadashi's core and snuggles up to him.

He looks down, worried. "Danielle, are you okay? You're freezing cold." He begins to gently caress her cheek with a heated hand to see if he can help her.

"I don't know. J-just, everything is cold!" Her shivering intensifies as a blue beam shoots out from her and turns her pancakes into ice. After that she begins to feel a bit better.

It doesn't take him another second to realize what's happening to her. "Well, this is terrible timing."

Wasabi had fallen out of his chair as the beam shot out of her. He begins to settle back into his chair cautiously. "What the hell was that?!"

Honey Lemon puts a hand on Dani's shoulder. "Are you okay, sweety?"

Dani can't help but be scared. "What's happening to me, Daddy?"

"As a ghost matures, their core develops the rest of the way and they get their final powers. Your core happens to be ice. That's why you're so cold. You just need a safe place to release the built up ice and learn to control your powers." He explains to her with a gentle smile. "Perhaps, if he still has the targets up for practice, we can head on over to Fred's mansion after breakfast, alright?" Dani shyly nods in response as Tadashi thaws her pancakes.

"Soooo, ghost puberty?" Gogo pops her gum, feigning disinterest in the topic.

"Precisely!" He can see Dan holding in a sarcastic remark out of the corner of his eye. He releases a deep sigh. "Just say it already."

Dan double finger points at Dani. "I bet you think these powers make you cooler, huh?" There's a collective groan. "Oh, come on! It was clever!" He rolls his eyes and glances over at Tadashi. "Who are these people anyways, Clockwork?"

Fred grins from ear to ear. "You finally have a nickname!"

Clockwork smirks at Fred's remark. "The one excited about nicknames is Fred. The one who's still internally panicking is Wasabi. The one popping her gum is Gogo. And the sweetheart with the glasses is Honey Lemon."

Dan looks them over. "Hello, I'm the harbinger of your doom." Clockwork glares him down putting a hand on the thermos. "Errr, I mean Dan. Dan Phantom."

Fred perks up at his name. "Wait, wait, wait. Phantom? As in Danny Phantom?!"

"Meh, kinda. Let's just say he's only half of the equation." Dan averts his eyes angrily.

"He doesn't really like to speak of his past."

"You're dating Danny Phantom?!" Fred begins to get all fangirly.

Tadashi slams his hands on the table, his face bright red. "We're not dating!" Dan smirks and kisses his cheek. Dani giggles and makes a heart with her hands playfully despite the fact she's still freezing. He just rolls his eyes and sighs. "You two are useless."

Hiro walks over to the table as he removes his apron. "Alright, I'm ready to leave when you guys are."

The whole group stands up and Fred goes to stand by Tadashi, Dan, and Dani. "Sorry, Hiro. I'll be busy today. I'll catch up with you dudes later!" With that, the ghost trio and Fred leave without another word.

 **Woo! Sorry if this chapter is rambly, but I'm quite happy with it! Next chapter will feature lots of ghostliness! Stay tuned for more and I hope you enjoyed!**


	7. Chapter 6

There's a huge blast of ice as Dani focuses on her core. Tadashi lowers his ectoplasmic shield and walks over to her, his purple converse making the grass crunch below him. "Feel better, Danielle?" Fred just stands where he is with eyes wide open in a mixture of excitement and shock. Dan remains disinterested.

Dani perks up and smiles at her dad. "Actually, yeah! That helped a lot! Now what?"

The corner of his mouth quirks upward a bit. "Target practice." He turns to the sit floating Dan. "You're more than welcome to help her on this part."

"Yes! Finally! An excuse to destroy stuff!" Dan cheers as he stands himself back down and rushes over to Dani.

Fred cocks his head. "Why can't you teach her this part, Clockwork? I believe you're fully capable. Also, I'm really curious about how awesome your ghost form looks!"

Clockwork contemplates this option. "Well, I guess I could use my limited power in my human form to teach her."

It's Dan's turn to question the time ghost's decision. "Why have you been so unwilling to 'go ghost' in front of your friends? Dani and I have showed off ours plenty, so it's not like it's a fear factor, y'know."

He releases a small sigh before replying. "My reasoning is none of your business."

Fred pouts and gives Tadashi 'the look'. "If you show me your ghost form, I won't tell the others! I promise! I'll keep my big mouth shut!"

"If it means you'll stop pestering me about it, then fine." He reaches up to his neck and rips off the amulet. There's a huge flash of light as circles of flames appear on the tips of his hands, coursing their way around his body. Everything changes in the blink of an eye. His once black hoodie transforms into a deep purple cloak and lilac turtleneck that shows off his core. His legs slowly dissipate into a ghostly tail as the flames make their final cycles and fade out. He turns to nervously look at Fred with his bright red eyes. "Is this what you wanted?"

Fred blinks rapidly, trying to process what he's seeing. He knew his deceased friend was now referred to as Clockwork, but he never would've guessed it to be for this reason. He points a finger at him in shock as he stumbles backward. "Y-You're father time!?"

He shyly plays with the gears on his time staff. "I prefer Clockwork or the Master of All Time, but yes. Yes, I am Father Time if you want to be technical." He shifts into his toddler form subconsciously.

"Whoa! What the hell was that?! Why are you a baby-man now?!"

"Oh, sorry. Force of habit." He focuses and transitions himself back to a young adult form.

"Okay! That was just creepy! Why do you do that?"

Clockwork can't help but smirk. "Simply because I enjoy seeing people react as you did. Also, it's just fun to be different ages for the sake of making bad puns."

Fred calms down and looks at him perplexed. "Odd, yet interesting."

Dan chuckles and puts an arm around the time master's shoulders sassily. "He'll never be better than me at bad puns, though! I'm the king!"

Clockwork shifts into his toddler form again. "Hey! Don't beLITTLE me!" You can tell by the look on his face that he's genuinely proud of this pun.

"Wow, Clocky. Wow. I wonder if you ever forget how cute you are?" He begins to roughly pinch his boyfriend's cheeks. "Cwute, cwute, cwute!"

Clocky gives Dan a well deserved death glare, forcing Dan to remove his hands, before sighing. "Let's just return to training Danielle." He returns to his young adult form to stay there, watching as Fred sets up the targets. He makes his way over to Danielle and floats down to her level. "Think you can figure out how to conjure ice from your core?"

She nods. "Maybe." She focuses her eyes on her hands and the rest of her mind on her core. Ice begins to form, but it falters and melts into a puddle of water.

He smiles at her efforts to ensure she won't just give up. "You can't just force it like that, Danielle. Let it happen naturally; like this." He effortlessly puts up his hand and summons a flame.

"But how do you do that? I need details!" She helplessly demands.

"Just like before, but on a smaller scale. Let it build up in your core until it has nowhere to go but out. And," He gently grabs her hand. "relax your body."

She does as told and her eyes and hands begin to glow blue as ice forms in her palms. "I did it!"

Dan smirks. "Now, can you kill things with it?!" This remark earns him three sets of glares.

"He means target practice. Fred, I advise that you move away from the targets just in case." Clockwork leads her to where she should be standing. "Now, Danielle, do just as before, but with your palm pointed where you wish to shoot."

They spend the rest of the day like this. Target practice, sparring, and just having amazing family time. They even made sure Fred got to have some fun too by showing him some cool ghost fighting moves.

 **To be honest, I'm really not that good at writing action based scenes like this, so I'm sorry for cutting this chapter short. The next chapter will be way better! Just trust me and click the next chapter button now! Bye!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Just a heads up: This chapter will be from Clockwork/Tadashi's perspective. Enjoy!**

After a long day of training we were finally in bed. I glance over at the alarm clock on the end table. 'Ugh. 3am.' I can't sleep for the afterlife of me for some reason. My thoughts begin to trail off as I feel Dan's grip tighten on my shirt. I glance down at him. 'Oh, not another nightmare!' I gently grip his shoulder and shake him a little. "Dan. Dan, wake up!" He lets out a loud scream that probably woke up the whole house. "Dan, it's okay. It's me." I sit him and myself up as I look him on the eyes.

"Th-They hated me…." He sobs out in distress.

"Who?"

He sniffles and pulls his knees to his chest. "My parents."

"It was that dream again, wasn't it?"

"It seemed so real!"

"I know it did." I pull him into a tight hug. "I know. It's okay now. They can't get you here."

A shadowed silhouette of my brother approaches our bed in the dark. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing, Hiro. Just go back to bed."

"If it's nothing, then why did I hear a scream?" I feel the bed shift from his weight on the edge of it.

Dan tries to be tough despite the tears I feel touching my cheek from him. "It's none of your business, child!"

"Sheesh! Excuse me for caring!"

"Sorry about him, Hiro. He's just having a rough night. I can handle him myself. Good night, Hiro."

I hear a sigh as the bed shifts again. I put my focus back on Dan, stroking his hair as I press my forehead against his lovingly. He continues to cry softly as his anxiety seems to rise based on his breathing pattern. "It's okay. I promise. Jack and Maddie could never get you here."

"Are you sure?"

I lift my head and kiss his temple. "Yes, I'm sure. No one will be dissecting you any time soon in this timeline." I lied through my teeth. How could I ever know if that's true or not? I feel him lean into my embrace sleepily. His breathing seems to have calmed immensely. "You should get some rest, okay?" He nods before I guide him down on to the bed without bothering his comfort on me.

"Hey, Clockwork?" He sniffles one more time.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for being here for me. I know I annoy you a lot, but I really do appreciate all you do for me..."

I smile gently at him. "It's what you're supposed to do when you truly love someone."

I feel his face warm up with blush before his soft lips brush against mine. My lips join together with his as I snuggle my nose with his. He brings his body on top of mine, not breaking our connection. I feel his forked tongue ask for entrance and pull out of the kiss. "We can't let things get too heavy here, Dan."

"Oh." I can hear the pout in his voice. "Still. I love you too, Clocky." He lays back down and we hold each other close until we both doze off.

 **Short Chapter is short, but I love it! I hope that this chapter is accessible to anyone who loves this ship and not just those who know the au. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did writing it. The plot will thicken next chapter ;) trust me.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Back to 3rd person this chapter. Tell me if you wish for me to return to 1st person writing and I'll do what I can for you guys :) Now, onto the story!**

Hiro wakes up fairly early this morning. The first thing he sees is Dan and Tadashi spooning. He decides it's best to leave the two lovebirds alone for now and goes downstairs to the main floor of the apartment. Since, as far as he knows, no one else is awake yet, he pours himself a bowl of cereal and goes to the livingroom to watch some mindless television.

Dani, however, disrupts his plans. She's sitting upside-down on the couch, working on some sort of ectoplasmic pistol gun. "Morning, Uncle Hiro." She states passively, caring more about the weapon than him.

He raises an eyebrow. "Um, where did you get that?"

"Made it. If only it would work!" She bangs a fist against the side of it and a bunch of ectoplasm squirts all over Hiro. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!"

He shudders and tries to wipe some of it off. "What is this stuff?!"

She grabs a towel and begins wiping it off of him. "Ectoplasm. It's what all ghosts are made up of. It can also be heated up and used as a weapon against ghosts."

"Why would you need something like that? You're a ghost!"

"Just because I'm a ghost doesn't mean I don't need to protect myself from other ghosts."

"I see." He clears his throat as he gets the last of the ectoplasm off of his shirt. "Well, if you ever need a safe place to work on that stuff, you're always welcome in the Nerd Lab."

"Nerd Lab?"

He goes and dumps his ectoplasm covered cereal in the trash. "It's a lab workshop area where me and my college buddies work. We all have our own areas, but you're perfectly welcome to join us in any of them and work on your projects as long as you don't disrupt our projects."

"Really?! Thanks! Could we go today? I mean, I know it's Saturday and all, but I could really use some tools and a proper work space. It's completely okay if y-"

He chuckles as he pours himself a new bowl of cereal. "Sure thing, Dani. We'll leave at 10 as long as Tadashi is alright with it. Besides, I should get some work done on my project for Bio-Mech."

"Sooooo…..Wanna watch Kuroshitsuji?"

He's completely caught off guard by this request. "You watch Kuroshitsuji too?!"

"A half ghost that doesn't isn't worth their salt!"

He smirks. "Yes, my lord."

They sit down on the couch and eat their breakfast, watching episode after episode on Netflix while chatting. "So, you're 14 and in a prestigious college, right? How did you manage something like that? I mean, I'm 14 and I can barely do algebra!"

"Heh, well, I'm not really sure. I've just always been really smart. School has never been a challenge for me and that lead to me skipping a bunch of grades."

Little did they know it's been 4 hours now. They didn't even hear his footsteps before, "Ah! Good to see you two getting along."

Hiro jumps and falls off the couch. "DUDE! WHAT THE HELL?! WARN US BEFORE YOU TALK!"

Tadashi grins widely. "Best part of being a ghost, I can float down the stairs and make no noise."

Hiro gets up indignantly. "Rude."

Dani can't help but giggle at this and mumble, "Oh, look. Sebastian and Ciel."

"That's what you get for not waking us up! It's noon now!" Dan exclaims in annoyance.

"Well, he woke up late. I was simply trapped under him for 2 hours."

"Then why didn't you wake me up?!"

Tadashi shrugs. "I'm not an alarm clock."

"Wait, it's noon already? Um, Tadashi, is it alright if I take Dani to the Nerd Lab?"

"I don't see why not so long as she doesn't cause any trouble. I wouldn't mind going myself, actually. Its been a long time after all." Tadashi sighs in nostalgia.

Dan crosses his arms and rolls his eyes as he plops himself down on the arm chair. "This better not be boring."

It's a long way to campus from the cafe. The way there was quite uneventful. I wasn't until the reached campus that things got interesting. Hiro honestly didn't think much of the route they were taking until they began to pass by "Tadashi Hamada Hall."

Tadashi began to feel uncomfortable to say the least. It begins with looking down and squeezing Dan's hand and steadily turns into hugging Dan's arm and hiding his face in his shoulder. It's quite obvious that he's doing everything he can to avoid an anxiety attack.

Dan looks down at his out of character cowardice. "What's wrong?"

Tadashi refuses to look up. "Th-that building. Well, the one that used to be here before it burned down. That's where I died."

"Oh." He understands how much this hurts him and puts his arms around him to comfort. "It'll be okay, Clockwork. Just keep your head down until I tell you it's out of sight, alright?" He receives a small nod in response.

Dani surprises Tadashi by putting a comforting hand on his elbow, wanting to hold his hand. He allows his arm to fall so she can do as she wishes. Hiro, walking ahead of everybody, is totally clueless to the situation.

Everything is calm by the time they arrive at the Nerd Lab. The penguin cuddles have ceased just in time for Hiro to turn to Dani and smirk cockily. "Prepare to be amazed!" He opens the door for them to walk through.

Dani is in awe as she slowly makes her way in, taking everything in. "Whoa…"

"It's bigger than my parent's lab." Dan and Dani utter in unison with wide eyes, receiving an odd look from Hiro.

"Wait, you two are siblings?"

"Well, kinda, but not really. It depends on your definition of siblings." Dani tries to explain.

"We both branch from the genetics of the same person, and we both have the same dad. But she doesn't hold genetics from him, while I do." Dan shrugs.

"It's complicated." Tadashi finishes the conversation, showing how awkward the topic is for everyone.

"So, let me see if I understand this. You're dating your adopted daughter's half-brother?" Hiro presses on.

There's a collective eyeroll from all 3 ghosts before Honey Lemon rushes over and starts talking in her typical enthusiastic way. "Oh my gosh! I had no idea you guys would be stopping by today!" She pulls her earbuds out and smiles widely at Dani. "I absolutely must show you my latest experiment!" She grabs Dani's hand tightly and practically drags her over to her station.

All Dani can see that makes any sense is a big pink and orange purse with glowing buttons surrounded by multicolored balls that resemble ectoplasmic blasts. "It's a purse..?"

"Oh! It's not just a purse! You see, Hiro and I had previously worked to create this together. I call it my Purse of Distraction(Patent Pending)! Basically, you type in the equation for the chemicals you wish to create," She begins to demonstrate as she speaks. ",and out pops an easy to throw ball of said chemicals! Once you have the ball, all you have to do is throw it! The seal around it will bust and the desired chemical reaction will occur, which makes for an amazing distraction! Anyways, my point being, I've been experimenting with different equations, and I may created the world's most effective knockout gas!" Honey Lemon holds the ball close to Dani's face to ensure that she can see it. "Wanna help me test it out?"

Dani nervously sweats as she stares at the orb. "That. That sounds very dangerous. I think I'll pass. Great idea, though!"

She pouts and tilts her head."Are you sure? I think I can find a gas mask your size!"

Tadashi raises an eyebrow. "What exactly is in it?"

"I found these super rare flowers called Blood Blossoms! When they're crushed up, they have a major calming effect on the body! I mixed those up with some ether and now it's in an experimental stage to see if I need to add anything else to it."

Dani and Dan back up and stand behind Tadashi. As the leader, Tadashi speaks up about this problem. "It's best none of us participate in testing that, Honey Lemon. Blood Blossoms are very fatal to ghosts."

"Oh my gosh! I didn't know! I'm so sorry!" She panics and tries to put away everything related to the Blood Blossoms as quickly as she possibly can.

"It's completely fine. There's no way you could've known."

Dani reaches into her bag and gets out her ectogun. "Do you know where I can find tools to work on this?"

Honey Lemon points her in the right direction. "Over there at Wasabi's station. Ask him before taking things, though. Trust me, it's best if you do!"

She walks on over to his station and looks up at him as he works carefully on some sort of laser thing. "Umm, Wasabi?"

"Hmm?" He doesn't lose an ounce of focus on his project.

"Would it be okay if I borrowed a few tools?"

He glances over at her and looks at what she's holding. "Sure. Y'know, I'm not used to people asking to use my stuff." He looks directly at Gogo before returning his eyes to Dani. "So, what exactly do you need, little miss?"

"I'm honestly not sure. Uh, some screwdrivers primarily."

Wasabi grabs a few tools and hands them to her. "If there's anything else you need, don't be afraid to ask, alright?"

She nods and smiles politely. "Thank you!" She makes herself comfortable by hanging upside down from the rafters and gets right to work.

Tadashi quietly slips away to his old lab to get a little work done himself. As he glances around the room he comes to a realization. "Ah, so this is where Hiro made his lab." His eyes fall on his old baseball cap. He grins and puts it on. "It's been ages since I've seen this old thing." He takes a moment to admire his reflection before Hiro walks in on him.

"Oh, there you are."

"Sorry, I was just looking around." He glances around. "You've really made yourself at home here, huh?"

"Heh. Yeah. Oh! I see you've found your hat. Umm…" He looks down at his feet awkwardly. "If it's okay, when you leave, could I keep the hat? It's really special to me after your death and all."

"Of course. I understand." He smiles at him and smooshes the hat onto his head adoringly.

Hiro smirks and looks up at him from under the brim of the hat. "Some things never change."

Tadashi shoots him his classic grin. "Come on, grab what you need and let's join the others." He didn't get very far before a puff of red smoke escapes his lips. Dani and Dan share a look with him before they collectively nod.

Dani jumps down skillfully from her perch. "We've gotta go." The three ghosts begin to walk towards the door at a hasty pace.

Hiro begins to chase after them, causing Honey Lemon and Wasabi to follow. "Wait! You just got here! What's going on?"

"No time to explain, kid! Just stay some place safe!" Dan instructs.

The whole group makes it outside before Hiro can even process what Dan just said. They're greeted by a large, robotic, floating man; a blue-haired, floating popstar; and a bum looking dude on a motorcycle. Tadashi expertly dodges a flaming arrow that was flying towards the center of his head. Wasabi screams and runs back inside.

Tadashi steps forward fearlessly. "Ah, the Three Stooges! What brings you here?"

"The bounty on your head primarily." The robotic man sneers.

"Oooo. That's quite a long line. Are you sure it's worth your time?"

Dani and Dan simultaneously go ghost. "Touch him and you three won't have a head!" Dan spits venomously.

"Not yet, guys. Let's see if I can persuade them to leave peacefully."

"Look, Flame-o, Shorty, Clock-dork, we don't have to fight at all. That is, if you turn yourself over to the Observants the easy way." The biker shrugs.

The popstar scoffs. "But the easy way is so boring! Let's just kill him here and bring his bloodied corpse to the eyeballs!"

"While I agree with you, Ember," Robot man picks up a grimacing Tadashi by the front of the shirt. "We were strictly instructed to return him in a conscious state."

Tadashi practically growls. "Do your worst, Skulker, but there's no way I'm ever returning."

"Hard way it is!" Skulker throws him like a ragdoll, causing the amulet to bust and spill blood all over the concrete. Clockwork flinches in realization of the situation before he's engulfed in the flames that transform him into a ghost. 'No! They can't see me like this!' But it was too late.

The time ghost can hear a small gasp pass from Hiro's lips. "T-Tadashi?"

He glares daggers at the ghosts as he puts up his hood and floats into an upright position. "Big mistake."

 **To Be Continued...**


	10. Chapter 9

**Previously….**

The time ghost can hear a small gasp pass from Hiro's lips. "T-Tadashi?"

He glares daggers at the ghosts as he puts up his hood and floats into an upright position. "Big mistake."

 **And now:**

"Danielle, Dan! Now!" He shouts as he charges at Skulker. Dani and Dan nod and go after Ember and Johnny on command.

A gun appears out of Skulker's arm and sets its aim on Clockwork. "You've forced my hand!"

A giant cocky smirk grows across Clockwork's face as his hands glow with flames. "What hand?" Before Skulker even knew what was happening, the time ghost ripped his metal arms off and melted them into nothing but ash. He back hands him to the round, leaving a huge crater in the middle of the road.

Ember and Johnny, already taken down by Dan and Dani, back up to where Skulker is in fear of the trio.

Clockwork mercilessly yanks off Skulker's head and removes his small green body. "I have a few questions for you." He growls out, holding the miniature ghost up to his face.

"Fine! I'll do anything! Just don't kill us!"

Dan chuckles. "Some hunter you are."

"Are there more of you coming? How many have the Observants hired to kill me?"

"We don't know! I assume we're the first wave of many, but it's hard to say. All we know is that they want you back. Pretty desperately it seems." Ember chimes in.

Clockwork sighs and lets Skulker go. "Fair enough." He opens a portal back to the Ghost Zone for them. "So long as you promise not to tell anyone where I am, you're all free to go." As he says this, they all quickly pile into the portal. He closes it as soon as they're gone. He floats over to where the amulet broke and picks up the remnants. "This is no good…"

Dan puts a hand on his shoulder. "Wouldn't it have been easier to just go back with the-?"

Clockwork removes Dan's hand from his shoulder angrily. "There's no way in hell I'm returning to those one-eyed freaks!" Dan and Dani share a look of concern, but decide to drop the subject seeing as it's very touchy. Clockwork looks down and mumbles, "Here's to hoping I didn't scare everyone off." He floats inside of the science building. "Hiro?"

Hiro's in a corner, hugging his knees and shaking as Honey Lemon tries to comfort him. "I'm such a fool. I should've known it wasn't really him." Those words hurt Clockwork more than anything else( and he's seen lots of pain and sorrow).

As he approaches Hiro, Honey Lemon sees him out of the corner of her eye. She stands straight up and points Dani's ecto gun at him. "Who are you?! What do you want with Hiro?!"

"I already told you! I'm Tadashi! And I don't want to hurt Hiro! I just wanted to see him one last time, okay?! Why are you both so scared?"

Hiro bravely looks up at him with tear soaked cheeks. "You… you don't look like Tadashi anymore. You look like a monster! Do you not realize what you did out there? You practically killed that man! My Tadashi would never do something like that. You're not Tadashi!"

"I was protecting myself!"

"From what?! What could possibly be bad enough that you'd have to murder?!"

"It's hard to explain, Hiro!"

"A lot of things have been with you lately! Why can't you just tell us what's going on?! If you're really Tadashi, why can't you trust me?!"

"FINE! Do you really want the truth?"

"YES!"

He goes and kneels down by Hiro, their cautious eyes following him. "I'm running from my owners."

Honey Lemon's face softens in shock. "Owners? As in… you're a- a slave?"

"I might as well be… The Observants feared my power in the beginning, so they captured me," He puts a hand over his left cheek, looking down grimmly. "Branded me, and put me to work doing their dirty work. Killing for them. Changing the timelines for them. Making sure everything is as they want it. I've found my way around many loopholes, but it's not the same as freedom. Heh… It was a blessing when they put Dan in my custody and Danny's life in my hands. I finally wasn't alone. I just. I just want to be like other ghosts. I want to be free to go where I please, do what I please, interact with whomever I please. If only it were that easy. That's why I ran. I'm hiding from them here. I understand if you want me to leave." He begins to stand back up, but is caught off guard by a big hug from Hiro.

"I'm sorry for not believing you."

He turns around and puts a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Hiro… I wouldn't have believed me either." A smile crosses his features. "Hamada bros?" He puts up a gloved fist.

Hiro smiles back. "Hamada bros." He gives him a fist bump. "Now to plan how we're gonna protect you!"

"Wait, really? You're gonna help me?"

"Well, yeah! You may be a creepy ghost, but you're still my brother."


	11. Chapter 10

Aunt Cass sees the clan enter the cafe sans Tadashi. She goes over to them curiously. "Where's Tadashi?"

Dani, Dan, Honey Lemon, and Hiro look at each other in panic as they form a valid excuse. Hiro is the first to think of something. "Oh, you know Tadashi. Always going off to do his own thing with his own agenda." He flinches as an invisible force whacks him in the head. "I mean, he decided to stay back at the Nerd Lab to work on something. He wasn't very specific."

"Oh, well, alright." She doesn't seem to buy it, but moves on. "Be sure to tell him that I'm going to be at my cousin's house for a couple of days. Her husband's being absolutely troublesome and she wants my help dealing with him. I'll be leaving at 6 tonight." Her eyes go to Dan. "I can trust you and Tadashi to look after Hiro and Danielle while I'm gone, right?"

"We will do our best." Dan smirks and ruffles Hiro's hair as Hiro glares at him.

"Aunt Cass, I'm in college. I don't need a babysitter!"

"You're still 14, Hiro. Now, I'm going to go pack. If you need anything, say so now." She states as she turns away from them.

While she's busy packing, they go ahead and close up the cafe for her. Well, Hiro, Dani, Clockwork, and Honey Lemon did. Dan being Dan just watched and sarcastically cheers them on. As soon as she was gone, they went upstairs and began planning.

Clockwork grabs a clipboard and sits down in the corner of the living room, his tail lazily outstretched. As he begins to hastily sketch and erase ideas in stress, Dan sits next to him and peeks over his shoulder in curiosity. "I thought we were going to be planning together?"

Dani plops down at his other side. "Yeah!" She pouts and lowers his clipboard when she realizes he's not paying attention. "I know you prefer to work alone, but we really do want to help, Daddy."

He sighs. "Fine. I honestly have nothing at the moment, anyway. What do you propose we do?"

Hiro chimes in as an idea comes to him. "Y'know how we used to play Dungeons and Dragons when we were little? Well, maybe it'd be easier for us to plan ahead if we think of this like that." He pauses and joins the group on the floor. "Lets begin with a list of 'characters' and abilities." He steals the clipboard away from Clockwork and begins jotting down their names. "What can each of you do?"

Clockwork and Dani let Dan start. He speaks purely from thought as he counts them on his fingers "We all have the usual ghost abilities. Intangibility, invisibility, flight, possession, duplication, oh, and ectoplasmic manipulation. I have a limited amount of pyrokinesis. My ghostly wail is an honest favorite." He smirks.

Hiro pauses in his writing and looks up at Dan in confusion. "Your ghostly what?"

"My ghostly wail." He chuckles. "I can scream and knock out whole cities!"

Hiro is visibly creeped out by that one. "Okay then…" He makes a note next to that ability that says 'Yikes! Last resort!'

Dan continues the rest of his list. "Then there's my Electric Core abilities. I think you can easily figure out what those are. Body manipulation is a common ghost ability as well… Oh! Clocky and I can both open up portals. His are a lot more advanced, though. Aaaand, yeah, that's all I've got"

Clockwork smirks in his baby form. "I assume we're going _clockwise_?"

Dan and Dani groan at the pun while Hiro jumps when he notices his appearance change. "Holy shit! What happened?! Why did you do that?!"

"First of all, language. Secondly, sorry for the scare. Sometimes I forget that I do that. It's honestly subconscious anymore, although I can control it. Like this." He transitions himself into his young adult form. "Side effect of being the Master of Time."

"Ghosts are strange…." He stares a moment more before shaking his head. "Right, um. Back to abilities."

"Besides what Dan has already listed as normal ghost abilities, I have full chronokinesis, pyrokinesis, and telekinesis along with teleportation."

Dani shrugs. "I have nothing particularly special. I mean I have my ice core, but that's it."

Hiro lets them all see the lists. "Now we just have to figure out the enemy's weaknesses, and we have all we need to create some gameplans."

Honey Lemon listens into their discussions, uncertain of how she could help them.

Hours pass as they come closer to a finalized plan. Honey Lemon comes upstairs with a tray of tea only to see all of them asleep in a dogpile with Clockwork as the base. She puts the tray down on the end table and chuckles as she takes a quick picture of this adorable scene. She then puts her phone down on the chair and kneels down by them. She gently shakes Clockwork's shoulder, waking him up. "I think you should go upstairs and get some sleep. All of you."

Clockwork just groans in annoyance and snuggles his cloak like a blanket. "Sleep is for the weak - _Yawn_ \- We're fine down here."

Dan tries to roll over and ends up smacking his head against the wall. He sits up and looks around like he was shot. "Huh?! Who goes there?!"

Clockwork rolls his eyes and sleepily laughs at him. "You just hit your head, idiot."

"Oh…" Apparently when he fell asleep, he had turned back into his ghost form. He stretches his back like a cat, clawing into the floor a bit. "What time is it?"

Honey Lemon glances at the clock and replies. "Ten til midnight. I'm going to head home in a moment here." She looks pointedly at Clockwork and Dan as she stands up. "You two. Get some rest, or at least make sure Hiro and Dani do, okay?"

They both nod as they wake themselves up the rest of the way. As she is leaving they pick up Hiro and Dani and place them in their respective beds. They then slip into Aunt Cass's bedroom and try to get some rest in her queen sized bed.

Try being the operative word here. Not even an hour into their rest, Clockwork's emergency cell phone rings. He groans and says in time with the rings, "Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you." He finally submits and grabs the phone, checking who's calling. "I thought I told Daniel this line was for emergencies only…" He sits and sighs, answering the call. "What, Daniel? This better be important."

"Yeesh! Someone's a little cranky for 11am."

"It's 1am here, Daniel. Now, get to the point."

"Alright, alright! So, Dani texted me earlier and told me what's going on. I was just wondering, is everything okay over there? More importantly, are you okay? I know you aren't used to the human realm, so I thought I'd check in. Well, that and the situation doesn't sound too pleasant."

"I'm fine, Daniel. Now, goodnight."

"Wait!"

"What?" Clockwork snaps a bit, not even caring enough to apologize at this point.

"I want to help!"

"I don't need help. Goodnight." He hangs up and slams the phone back onto the end table. He glances over at Dan and thanks the stars that he didn't wake him up. Kissing Dan's temple, he lays back down and snuggles with him.

The next morning, Dan and Clockwork come down for breakfast. Clockwork, wearing one of Dan's sarcastic t shirts that is clearly big on him, goes and makes up a bowl of cereal for Dan, knowing he's too lazy in the mornings to get it himself. Dan, on the other hand is topless, making this situation seem like more than it actually is.

Hiro looks between them skeptically. "Did you guys seriously… ? Last night? In Aunt Cass's bed?"

It takes Clockwork a moment to understand what Hiro is getting at. When he does, he almost drops the bowl. "Oh Pariah, no! We haven't even! No!" His face goes bright green in embarrassment, his elf ears going down. Dan smirks at him and wiggles his eyebrows. Clockwork turns around to compose himself. "Perv."

Dani clears her throat, uncomfortable with this topic as well. "Not to interrupt your daily dose of humiliation, Dad, but Danny wanted me to tell you that he'll be arriving in San Fransokyo in an hour."

He sighs. "I know. I saw the timeline. I wish he would just learn to stay out of other people's personal business."

"Not like you do."

"Daaan!" Clockwork growls out, gripping the thermos.

"I'm just being honest."

"Yes, well, _my_ 'meddling' is part of my job."

He rolls his eyes and takes his cereal. "Right." He plops down in a dining chair and eats his cereal like child being nagged by his parents. "I think it's better if we don't bring that argument up in front of family."

Clockwork hovers behind his chair and leans to his ear. "Then don't bring it up." He then sits down next to him.

Hiro is still focused on the initial sentence that began the scuffle. "So, wait. Hold on. There's two Danis?"

"Not exactly." Dani quietly tries to find a way of explaining it. "I'm a clone of the Danny that's coming here. His creepo arch enemy wants him to be his son, and his way of coming to terms with the fact Danny himself will never join him was cloning him. There were about 20 of us, all varying in appearance because Vlad could never get us quite right. I'm actually the only clone to survive. The rest of them melted into goop. If I'm not careful, I'll be joining them."

Hiro looks down somberly before looking back at her. "Oh, I'm sorry. I know what that feels like." Clockwork adverts his thoughts from the conversation so his guilt doesn't get the best of him.

Dani smiles sweetly at Hiro. "It's okay! Daddy's been working hard to find a way of permanently fixing me."

The conversation is cut short by the front door's bell and a calling of "Hello?" from downstairs. Clockwork looks at a pocket watch. "Huh. He's ahead of schedule." He closes the pocket watch and it poofs out of existence. He then stands up and transforms his outfit into his usual uniform. "How rude of me to not be there to greet him." He summons his staff. "I'll be back in a moment. The rest of you should get dressed while I talk to him." Before anyone can reply, he disappears in a swirl of turquoise.

 **That's all for this time :). Clockwork and Danny father/son moments to come! I hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned for more!**


	12. Chapter 11

As a raven haired boy almost as tall as Dan walks through the front door of the cafe, Clockwork appears beside the counter in a flash of blue light. "Ah, Daniel. You're a bit earlier than we had anticipated."

Danny gives him a look of pure confusion as he walks up to him. "We?"

Clockwork ignores his question. "Are you sure you want to be here considering what tomorrow is?"

"It's not like my birthday is a big deal. Besides, helping and fighting ghosts is part of my daily life now! It'd be strange if I didn't spend a day doing that."

"I understand, but it's your 18th birthday. As in Coronation Day, my prince."

Danny just rolls his sky blue in response. "Never call me that again, please. Infact, can we just forget I'm the Prince of the Ghost Zone for the remainder of my stay here? You know how I feel about it."

Clockwork sighs and puts a hand on Danny's shoulder as he guides him upstairs. "You'll have to face facts eventually. That includes telling your parents." This reminder was greeted with nothing but silence. "Moving on. Are you prepared to meet my little team? Well, some of them."

"Team?" As soon as he opens the door to the apartment, Danny is tackled by Dani.

"DANNY!" She hugs him tightly. "It's been so long! How are you? Did you find the cafe just fine? What have you been up to?"

Clockwork chuckles as he helps the two of them stand back up. "Let the man breathe, Danielle! He just got done flying here."

Danny readjusts his red hoodie so it isn't choking him anymore. He smirks as he replies to Dani. "In order. 1. I'm pretty decent considering the life I lead. 2. Getting to Japan was the easy part, but I had to circle the block a couple of times to find this place. They could use a better sign. 3.-"

"I'll be sure to let Aunt Cass know about the sign." Hiro smoothly interrupts.

He's startled by the presence of a fourth person and turns around. "Who are you?"

Clockwork appears behind Hiro and ruffles his fluffy hair. "Daniel, this is my little brother, Hiro."

Hiro politely extends his hand. "So you're Danny Phantom?"

Danny shakes his hand and shoots a cocky smirk at Clockwork. "Wow, I thought any family you had would've been long dead by now!"

He simply rolls his eyes as he shifts to his elderly form. "I get it. I'm old. Make all the jokes you want, but just keep in mind what I can do to you, Daniel."

Hiro shudders and mumbles, "Still not used to that."

The ghost boy knows he'll never do anything to him and continues to look at some of the family photos. "That explains why you're in such a quaint place instead of, I don't know, an abandoned castle or Big Ben, or someplace else that suits you better than this! I mean come on!" He picks up a figurine. "There's ceramic cats where you'd probably want urns or grim reaper statues. It's just so… domestic."

Clockwork rolls his eyes, shifting back into his adult form and taking the cat from him. He gently puts it back where it belongs. "Most of this is my aunt's stuff, for your information. Now, do me a favor and don't touch anything."

"Okay, okay, Mr. Grumpy-Cogs. I just have one question before we move on."

"Hm?"

Danny points to an old school picture of Tadashi. "He looks very familiar. Is that you, Clockwork?"

"Ah, very observant, Daniel. Yes, that was me as a human. Tadashi Hamada."

Danny opened his mouth to comment when they all heard a loud bump from the stairs. Turns out it was just Dan almost tripping down the stairs as he tried to button his jeans. "Sorry for the delay. Clockwork tried to lock me in the closet for some reason."

They spot each other and begin shouting. "You! What are you doing here?!" They turn their heads in unison. "Clockwork?!"

"Dan, I already informed you of Daniel's arrival."

"I thought you were just going to tell him to leave! I didn't know he'd end up upstairs!"

Danny's eyes are aggressively glowing green at this point. "Clockwork. Please, answer this question honestly. ARE YOU INSANE?! Why in the world is Dan out of the thermos?! Let alone in the human realm! You know how dangerous he is!"

Clockwork puts his hands on Danny's shoulders and looks him in the eyes. "He's changed within the past four years. Now, you can either try to get along with him, or you can just go home."

"Why do you trust him? He caused the apocalypse for crying out loud!"

"He's different, Daniel!"

Dan steps in boldly. "While I love a good argument as much as the next ghost, how about we speed things along here?" He grabs Clockwork by the cloak and smashes his lips against his.

A look of pure betrayal crosses Danny's face. "Y-you. You're in love with the enemy?! Oh yeah! This is clearly okay! You vow to protect me and then you go off and start having make out sessions with one of the only ghosts that could and want to actually kill me!" He turns to leave. "And to think I actually came all this way to save you…"

Clockwork shoves Dan away, giving him the 'We'll talk about this later' look before chasing after Danny. "Daniel, wait!"

"For what? The Christmas card? Go ahead and cross me off the recipients list!"

A smirk makes its way across the Master of Time's face as an idea forms. "You know, you're being quite hypocritical right now."

He stops in his tracks and looks over his shoulder. "What are you going on about?"

"You're the one in love with the one person at Casper High that truly hates you, or so you think."

He turns to face the crazy old ghost. "Wait. Wes has a crush on me?" He shakes the blush from his cheeks. "No, you're just messing with me."

Clockwork absent mindedly tinkers with his staff. "One wrong move and he could ruin your whole life." An alternate timeline showcasing Wes finally revealing Danny's secret to everyone appears right next to him for all to see. "You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"No! He couldn't possibly do that! He's too stupid to find actual proof!"

Clockwork hums in contemplation. "I don't know, Daniel. He really is smarter than you know." The bubble of a timeline disappears on command. "If you continue on this path, he will find a way."

Danny looks genuinely worried from this prediction. "How do I prevent this future, Clockwork?"

"You know I can't reveal too much about the future, Daniel. That is unless you do me a favor. I'm not asking you to forgive Dan, but at least promise to peacefully fight by his side for me." Clockwork extends a gloved hand to him.

"If that's what it takes, then fine!" Danny shakes his hand. "You better hold up your end of the deal."

"Don't worry about that right now." He smiles. "Allow me to show you around."


	13. Chapter 12

**Mild trigger warning for the beginning of the chapter. You have been warned.**

All was finally quiet in the Hamada residence. All but two were fast asleep. Hiro simply couldn't sleep because he was thinking far too hard about what has made Tadashi change so much. On the other end of the second floor Clockwork is getting out of a well deserved shower.

It honestly feels good for the scars all over his body to finally be able to breathe. Especially the brand new ones on his shoulders. He's been sorting through some things in his mind lately. He finds himself staring blankly at his own reflection, talking to himself. "What has become of you, man?" He looks down, unable to stand it anymore. He looks back at it again, his thoughts getting the best of him. He backs up and blasts the mirror into a million shards as he lets out a stress relieving scream. He falls to the ground, holding his face as his eyes well up. Clockwork had forgotten he's not alone.

Hiro recognized the scream immediately. He jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. "TADASHI?!" He begins banging on the door in panic. When receives no reply he opens the door, thanking the heavens that it was left unlocked. "Tadashi are you o-" He was far from unprepared for what he's greeted with when he opens the door.

Clockwork remains motionless on the floor except for his shaking shoulders. His once pure white hair stained green with ectoplasm. Hiro kneels beside him cautiously, trying to avoid cutting himself on the glass covering the floor. Clockwork jumps in pain when Hiro put a hand on his shoulder. He forces himself to relax and looks at Hiro, wiping away his tears. "Hiro? What are you doing up?"

"Better question, why are you crying?"

"It… It's nothing. Go to bed, Hiro. I'm sorry for making so much noise."

Hiro repositions himself so he's in front of him and looks him in the eyes. "No. I've known you from the day I was born, Tadashi. I know you're not okay. Just tell me what's wrong. I want to help!" He pauses and removes his hands from Clockwork's shoulders. "Wait. Is this ectoplasm? Why is there ectoplasm on your shoulders?"

"Ectoplasm also serves as a blood of sorts for ghosts…"

"You… You…" hiro shakes his head to clear his thoughts. "That's it. You're not okay! Bandage those cuts, get dressed, and come with me. I can't let you do these things to yourself."

Clockwork looks him dead in the eyes. "I don't need help."

"You're a terrible liar, y'know? I'll be just outside the door if you need me. Don't even think about doing anything stupid." Clockwork sighs and decides to do as he's told for once.

Baymax places a blanket around Clockwork's shoulders, giving him a gentle hug while he's at it. "Everything will be okay. Remember, honesty is always a good thing."

Clockwork smiles softly, understanding his programmed kindness. "Thank you, Baymax."

Hiro walks in and hands Clockwork a hot mug of his favorite tea before sitting down on the coffee table in front of him. "Now that you're all comfortable, tell me the truth. Why are you hurting yourself?"

He stares down into his tea, contemplating what he should say. "This isn't what I wanted."

"What do you mean?"

"The Observants. I thought by helping them I'd gain their trust and my freedom. Things just got worse and worse as the centuries past me by. You always said my kindness would get the best of me one day. Congratulations… You were right…" He rolls his eyes bitterly before continuing. "My kindness isn't what it used to be, though. They've changed me, Hiro. The thing is I don't recognize myself anymore. Say we do defeat them and I get my freedom. What am I supposed to do then? I don't know how to be anyone but this persona of 'Father Time' anymore. It's not like I can just merge myself into regular Ghost Zone society easily. Everyone has too high of expectations of me." He looks back down at his reflection in the mug of tea. "Heh. I'm starting to think it'd be better for everyone if I just let them erase my existence like they want to."

"Sure, that's the easier way to go."

"Wait. What? I thought you were trying to help?"

"I'm not finished. Say you go through that little plan of yours. What will become of Dani and Dan without you, though? Dan will likely be erased alongside you. It's not like they're stupid enough to leave someone as dangerous as him wondering around like that, right? And then there's Dani. From what she's told me, you guys had a hard time finding a proper home for her. No one wanted her at all simply because she was 'too different'. You became her father. You gave her a bed to sleep in and food to eat. She'd be nothing without you. You can't really leave her alone, can you?"

"I guess not. Where are you going with this?"

Hiro grabs his shoulders and begins shaking him. "You have to keep fighting! The unknown is what makes life- err- I guess afterlife?" He shrugs and finishes his sentence. "That's what makes the afterlife fun! Who knows what you'll do. What adventures you'll go on. You've just gotta keep going." He smirks. "Try taking your own advice and look at your afterlife from a different angle. Think of the possibilities."

Clockwork can't help but smile a little. "You've matured quite a bit since my death, you know that?"

Hiro's face pinks slightly as he averts his eyes bashfully. "Ah, well, you know. Saving the world a couple of times will do that to you."

Clockwork chuckles, setting aside his tea. He floats into a standing position and pulls him into a hug. "Seriously, Hiro. Thank you." He pulls away and looks Hiro in the eyes. "I truly am proud of you, nerd." He ruffles his hair.

"Hey!" He smiles and looks up at him. "Thanks. Umm… I'll clean up the bathroom. You go get some sleep, alright? And no more wallowing in self-pity, okay? That's the only good speech I've got!"

Clockwork smirks before they both head upstairs and part ways for the night.


	14. Chapter 13

There's nothing but serene silence in the living room as Danny gets a well earned rest. It didn't last very long, unfortunately for him. Dani pounces on top of Danny's chest and giggles. "Wake up! Wake up!" Danny peeks open an eye and groans. "Happy Birthday, cuz!"

Clockwork sighs from behind the couch. "Danielle, let the poor man rest. He had a very busy day yesterday."

Danny stretches and lazily sits up, pushing Dani into his lap. "It's alright, Clockwork. I'm awake now."

Hiro sleepily makes his way downstairs with no one noticing.

Dani's eyes fill with excitement as she looks up at Danny."So, what do you wanna do today?! Maybe we could make a cake? Dad, do we have the things to make a cake? Let's make a cake! Oh! Maybe afterwards we could go see a movie! I don't know what movies are showing in Japan at the moment, but I'm sure we'll be able to find something we like!"

"Danielle…"

Danny is just staring at her with this look of pure overwhelment as she just keeps talking. "Oh! Or we could build a pillow fort like you used to when you were little!-"

"Danielle, I'm afraid he has more important matters to attend to today. We all do, actually. His is far more important than anyone else, though. Now, come with me, your highness. We have a lot to discuss."

There's a sound of unintelligible talk-coughing coming from behind them. Clockwork turns to see Hiro choking on his breakfast icecream. "Y-your highn-ness?! As in, like, a king?!"

"Precisely."

Danny groans. "Please don't make a big deal out of it like Mr. Tightass over here. I'm just the King of the Ghost Zone as of today. So what? All I'm doing is leaving everyone I love behind! Now, can we just drop the subject, please?!"

Clockwork sighs, laying Danny's outfit for the day on the coffee table. "Very well, but we will discuss it at some point. Now, get dressed. We're going out."

There was about to be further argument from the stubborn 18 year old until a trio of gasps are heard from the ghosts. Danny smirks and goes ghost. "Hello, misplaced aggression!"

Clockwork glances out the window, still frustrated with Danny. "Seeing as it is only Vladimeir, I don't see why you can't fight him yourself."

Danny grins. "Thank you!" He begins to fly away before Clockwork speaks up.

"Oh and Daniel." Danny stops and looks at him. "Demonstrabit ei opera misericordias."

Danny smirks at his boldness. "Faciemus!" And with that, he flies off to Plasmius.

Hiro is left standing speechless. "What was all that?"

Clockwork smirks sarcastically. "Latin isn't a dead language. It's the language of the dead."

Danny floats face to face with Plasmius. "How sweet of you to remember my birthday. Is your present the gift of me kicking your butt back to Wisconsin?"

The cheesehead vampire frowns. "I'm not here for you, Daniel. Now, move aside. I have a job to complete."

"Oh, that's funny because I don't care!" He punctuates this announcement with an ectoblast to Vlad's face.

Vlad, thrown off by the blast, crashes to the ground. "You little brat! You know it's routine for me to throw the first punch!"

"Oh really now? Well, too bad, already did it!" He playfully sticks his tongue out as he prepares another blast.

"Let's make this quick, shall we? You show me where your instructor is, I kill him, I allow you to kick me in the rear because it's your birthday, and we all go home happy. How 'bout that?"

"Or…" Danny's eyes glow blue as he freezes Vlad chest down, forcing him to fall to the ground. "You could just disappear and stop stalking me. I'd suggest space, but it's too good for you."

"Why on Earth should I listen to _you_?"

"Because I'm the birthday boy and I said so, fruitloop."

"Very well. I'll comply to your little request for now, but I will return. I couldn't possibly miss those eyeballs ripping poor old teacher limb from limb, afterall!" He smirks. "They're coming sooner than you could ever imagine, Daniel. Say your goodbyes before it's too late." With that, he teleports himself elsewhere.

"I have to warn Clockwork!" He pauses as he thinks about what he just said. "Wow. This is the plot twist of the century."

Danny phases into the apartment and turns back into a human. "Clockwork!"

Clockwork tinkers with his staff as he sends a disinterested look to Danny. "I heard all of it. The one advantage to having big ears. Anyways, he's likely lying to you to send you into panic. Take it with a grain of salt."

"But-!"

"Listen to me for once, Daniel. It'll do you no good to panic over something that likely won't happen for a while." He finishes his tinkering and makes the staff disappear. "Now, get dressed. Everyone is waiting in the car."

As soon as Clockwork leaves, Danny goes ahead and puts on the black t-shirt and red flannel. He had slept in his jeans, so now all he needs to do is put his Converse on. He then goes outside and joins everyone else in the somewhat cramped pink VW Beetle.

Honey Lemon looks back at Hiro, Dani, and Danny, smiling. "Is everyone buckled up and ready to go?"

Danny smirks and raises an eyebrow, a sarcastic remark sitting right on the tip of his tongue.

Hiro knows exactly where Danny's going with this and chuckles. "Just humor her so we can go to Fred's."

Dani, being oh so observant, finally takes the time to count the number of people in the car. "Wait. Are we seriously going to leave Dan home alone?" The very thought of it makes her quite uneasy.

"Of course not." He holds up and shakes the thermos from side to side. "He's right here."

"I SWEAR TO PARIAH, IF YOU DON'T STOP SHAKING THIS THERMOS, I WILL OPEN THE LID AND PUKE ALL OVER YOU!"

Clockwork chuckles lightly and puts him in the cupholder.

The whole team stands in Fred's spacious backyard. Four of which are confused as to why they've been summoned. Hiro gets Baymax set up as the others talk amongst themselves.

Gogo looks over the ghosts as Clockwork releases a grumpy Dan. She pops her gum and stares a moment longer. "So, do they just multiply or something?" She completely glosses over the fact Tadashi now looks like a creepy ghost. Honestly doesn't even surprise her.

Clockwork side glances his possy. "No. Not often…mostly in battle."

"Seriously, though!" Wasabi points at them, still creeped out by every part of this situation. "They look like Russian dolls!"

Gogo smirks. "Yeah, are they gonna go hide inside of each other?"

Dan grins mischieviously, cracking his knuckles. "I could make that happen."

Clockwork glares at him. "Dan, no!"

"But, I cou-"

"Nope."

Dan crosses his arms. "Fine…"

Fred finally finishes setting up the course as ordered and turns around to see Danny. He drops everything that he's holding and his jaw. "Oh my god. Are- Are you Danny Phantom?!"

Danny looks at Fred wearily. "Ummm… Yeeeeees? How do you know me?"

Fred excitedly gets out his copy of the first issue of the Danny Phantom comic book series. "I've read every issue. You don't even understand how awesome you are! I mean, I'm sure you know, but I mean like to other people. Could you sign this?"

"Oh, sure. I don't have a pen, though."

Fred pulls a Sharpie out of nowhere.

"Do you always keep that on you?"

Clockwork clears his throat. "I hate to interrupt your fanboying, but we have more important business to take care of."

Honey Lemon curiously points at the Phantom trio. "Do you mind explaining them first? I'm honestly confused too."

Clockwork sighs deeply and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Quickly." He points to Danny first. "He's the original. Classic edition if you will." His finger trails over to Dan. "He's an alternate older version of him that got fused with his archenemy. And finally," He directs his finger towards Dani. "She's a clone of him created by his archenemy. There were others, but they didn't survive."

Gogo pops her gum once more. "So, to sum up, his archenemy is insane?"

"I prefer the phrase 'crazed up fruitloop' to describe him." Danny smirks at her.

Clockwork redirects their attention to him. "Now, you've all been called here to train. I've only told Fred and Honey Lemon amongst you four this, but my bosses are after me. On a hunt and destroy mission to be more accurate. Because of my disobedience as of late, they wish to end my existence. They've been sending several different ghosts to get me, all of which we've been able to defeat. That's not the problem, though. They're on their way to get me themselves. I don't know how powerful they are, I must admit, but there's thousands of them and I need your help. Feel free to introduce yourself to Daniel as we're working, but we do have to make sure you're prepared to face ghosts. While Danielle and Hiro are working on upgrading your suits, Dan, Daniel, and I will be helping you learn how ghosts fight and how to defeat them."

Danielle goes around and passes out her ectoguns as Clockwork continues to explain things.

As he speaks he gets out a key and removes Dan's power reduction collar. "These are called ectoguns. They're filled with heated ectoplasm. I'm giving you these so this is a somewhat fair fight. Are you prepared? Or do you have further questions?" When he receives no reply, he flicks the cape of his cloak around him and disappears to his chosen hiding place. Dan follows suit.

Danny just stares at where they were standing for a moment. "Man, I have to get myself a cape!" He creates a smoke from dry ice and disappears to his hiding spot.

"Whoa! Ghost hide and seek!" Fred exclaims, causing Gogo to roll her eyes.

The humans look around for them in silence, but it doesn't last long. There's a rumbling under their feet as part of the ground begins to glow and crack. There's a loud growl as the ground bursts open. Dan flies out of the hole and lands in front of them with an eerie smile on his face.

The dramatic moment is ruined when the group hears a 'psst'ing from the tree. "Dan! What did I say about destroying property?!"

Dan shoots him a glare and growls deeply. "I'll clean it up when we're done!"

Clockwork rolls his eyes and sighs. "Sure you will…" He jumps down from his place in the tree since his hiding spot was revealed.

Dan scoffs in offense. "Are you doubting me?"

"Perhaps."

Dan's eyes glow in frustration as he forms a mini thunderstorm above Clockwork's head.

Clockwork pouts for a moment then smirks. "Is that really the best you can do?" He puts his palm out and uses his core to suck the flames off of Dan's head. He chuckles. "Childsplay."

Dan growls once more. "Put. It. Back!"

"Clean up your theatrical mess and we'll talk."

Dan launches himself at Clockwork and Clockwork simply dodges him and laughs subtly as Dan falls flat on his face. "Are you done with your hissy fit?"

Dan extends his claws and begins trying to slice open his face. Clockwork grabs his arms mid swing and flips him onto the ground, going down with him and pinning him down.

Dan becomes flustered at Clockwork's strength that he can't help but just stare at him in amazement. He quietly leans in and tries to kiss his lips. He ends up missing in his daze and kisses his nose. Clockwork is completely thrown off by this. The poor Master of Time's face lights up like a Christmas tree as he sits up and holds his nose to hide the fact that it's twitching like crazy. Dan chuckles and takes advantage of his awkwardness by pouncing on him, pinning him down just as Clockwork just did to him. They both just laugh for a moment before Clockwork grabs his face and kisses him. He pulls away with a smirk. "Now that we've had our fun, clean up your mess." He pats Dan's cheek and flies out from under him.

Dan nods and begins to do as he was told before he realizes. "Hey! How'd you do that?!"

"Lets just say there's some advantages to seeing all of time. It allows you to know everyone's weaknesses." Clockwork nonchalantly replies as he sits himself back into his place on the tree.

"No fair! You're crippled! You shouldn't be able to defeat me!"

"Don't use such harsh terminology, Dan. Either way, just because I'm older than the hills, blind in one eye, and missing my legs doesn't mean I'm weak. In fact, these flaws make me stronger."

Gogo rolls her eyes. "Is the old married couple done bickering? I'd like to actually learn how to fight ghosts."

"Were we supposed to be taking notes?" Fred asks aloud with his hand up.

Danny never left his hiding spot and is honestly confused about what just happened. He pops out from within the fountain. "Did I miss my cue?"

Clockwork watches as Dan cleans up his mess. "I apologize. That wasn't what we had planned. But, it is a good example of how to anger a ghost."

Dan looks up at Clockwork. "Alright, I'm ready."

Clockwork sighs. "Let's try this again."


	15. Chapter 14

Training had gone smoothly from there. Things were going almost too well. Clockwork's ghost sense goes off while he's sparring with Gogo. He growls and pins his ears back as he stops everything he was doing and turns around. "I thought Daniel told you to leave us alone, Vladimir." He complains in a dry voice.

Vlad makes himself visible and all the humans back away in uncertainty. Dan, Clockwork and Danny, however, stand front and center. Vlad smirks like the asshole he is. "Did I not say I'd return?"

Dan snarls. "Why do you even want to kill Clockwork?! It's not like you don't have enough money as it is!"

"Who even are you?" Vlad stares for a moment then shrugs it off. "No matter. I have something far more valuable than money to obtain from this opportunity." He focuses his gaze at the two 14 yearolds watching from the window.

Clockwork bares his fangs and stands between Vlad and his favorite kids. "There's no way in hell you're getting your disgusting hands on Danielle!"

"What part of she's my daughter do you not understand, you clock freak!" He backhands Clockwork and tosses him onto the ground like he's nothing. "Now, out of my way while I claim my prize!"

Clockwork growls, his eyes beginning to flame in anger as he gets back up. His voice is eerily distorted as he projects the list in front of Vlad. "Let's see, you first created her out of pure selfishness. Then you blatantly called her a 'mistake', 'nothing but a minor setback' in your plan, 'a mess you're too busy to clean up'. Then you order the poor girl around like a slave so you can gain something 'better than her'. Oh, and don't forget that time you melted her down for spare parts after sending your ghost hunting assistant after her. Clearly father of the year material!" He ends the projection and stands in front of Vlad in a threatening manner. "She stopped being your daughter years ago!"

Vlad seems unfazed by these accusations. "Nothing a simple mind wipe can't fix."

Clockwork hisses and blasts Vlad in the gut, tying him to a nearby tree with his flames. "Lay a finger on my daughter and our little deal is off!"

Danny nor Dan have ever seen this side of Clockwork before. They're so used to his usual monotonous voice and awkward smiles that this honestly scares the crap out of them. Even they consider running and hiding.

"What deal? What are you going on about?!"

Clockwork scoffs. "Of course you've forgotten. So distracted with all the money and power I spoon fed you." He looks him dead in the eyes. "Don't you remember that little accident of yours in college? I'm the only reason you're still alive! You begged for mercy. Asked me to end someone else's life in place of yours. I compiled on the promise that you never ask anything of me again. And yet here you are! Still alive and asking for my daughter just so you can experiment on her! You didn't actually think it'd be easy did you?"

Vlad glares him down. "You wouldn't dare change the past. It'd be too much trouble for you to balance out."

"Who said anything about the past? One press of a button," He holds his staff under Vlad's nose cockily. "and everything you've ever gotten because of me will slowly disappear. Starting with your 'friend' Jack's respect for you." He pauses and chuckles. "I hope you like space. You won't be coming down for a long time."

The implications of this threat sink in to Vlad, his face paling. "O-Okay, I'll leave her alone. Just let me live!"

Clockwork releases him, turning around coldly. "Good. Now, leave before I change my mind."

Vlad flees. Dan approaches him cautiously and puts a hand on his shoulder. "What the hell was all that?! What is going on, Clockwork?!"

Clockwork frowns and avoids Dan's look of concern. "It's complicated, Dan. Just-"

"Yeah, I got that part!" He growls deeply and forces Clockwork to look at him. "TALK TO ME, CLOCKWORK! WHERE DID ALL THAT ANGER COME FROM?!"

Clockwork shrugs off Dan's hands and glares at him. "He threatened my daughter. How was I supposed to react?!"

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT BULLSHIT! I KNOW THERE'S MORE TO IT THAN THAT!"

"I'll tell you later, okay? This isn't for here."

"You still haven't told him, have you?" A familiar young voice speaks up from behind Clockwork. "Do you even plan on telling him?"

Clockwork sighs and looks at Hiro. "I'm sorry, but no. I don't want him to be concerned."

Dan violently turns his boyfriend around. "TOO LATE! I'M ALREADY CONCERNED!" Dan takes a deep breath to stop himself from yelling at Clockwork more than necessary. That's when he notices that he's wincing as he grips his shoulders. This looks all too familiar to Dan. His eyebrows stitch together as he gently moves Clockwork's cloak and shirt to look at his shoulder.

"Dan, no…" He sighs submissively when Dan sees his scars. "Please don't be mad at me."

"You-... You've been cutting again?"

"Yes, but, please, let me expla-"

"Why didn't you tell me?" He's truly hurt by this fact.

"I didn't want to worry you…"

Dan places a large, comforting hand on Clockwork's face, wiping away a rebellious tear. "You know I'd understand. You're not the first one to do this, and you know that."

"I know… I-I just…"

Dan interrupts Clockwork with a kiss. "Hush. You don't have to explain." He looks over at Fred. "You have a full first aid kit, correct?" Fred nods and leads them to it, sending a concerned look to his best friend. Dan smiles slightly at the time ghost. "Let's get those wounds properly dressed, okay?"

Clockwork blushes in shock and gratitude. No ones shown this much concern for his wellbeing in centuries. He leans into Dan's embrace as his boyfriend wraps an arm around him while they follow Fred. "Thank you."


	16. Chapter 15

Dan, Danny, and Hiro watch on as Baymax properly cleans Clockwork's cuts. Danny shoots Dan a smirk. "Wow, you should have your hair blown out more often, dude! You actually seem human!"

Dan sneers at Danny and shoots a gag around his mouth. "Watch it, brat!"

Clockwork glares at Dan. "Dan. What did we talk about?" He summons the collar and begins to reach up and put it around Dan's neck.

Baymax pauses what he's doing and looks at him. "Please, do not move. Moving makes this process a difficult one."

He nods. "Dan. Kneel down for me." Dan complies, allowing Clockwork to put his hair back along with the collar.

Hiro is about to speak when there's a knock on the bedroom door. Danny stands up off the bed and opens the door. There's no one there. He almost steps on the package when he goes to see where the knocker could've gone. He picks it up and mumbles as he reads the tag. "Clockwork, I heard you lost the first one. Goodluck and take care, Theadora."

Clockwork's ears perk up at the sound of his and he floats over to Danny once he's certain that Baymax has finished. He takes the package and opens it as the others watch.

Hiro tilts his head. "What's in there?"

Clockwork lifts the amulet out of the box and smiles. "Just a favor from a close friend." He slips on the necklace and allows the flames to encase him as he turns into a human.

Danny steps back in shock. "H-how did you?"

"The amulet I'm wearing is enchanted. It allows me to obtain a human form for as long as I'm wearing it."

"That's. That's actually really useful. And also kinda spooky." Danny glances at Hiro. "Has he always been this cryptic and strange?"

Hiro smirks. "In his own way."

Tadashi chuckles and gently shoves Hiro's shoulder as he sits down next to him. "Hey!"

Hiro rolls his eyes sarcastically. "Don't act like it's not true, you big nerd!" He lightly punches his brother's shoulder.

"You're the weird one!"

Hiro takes this as a challenge. "Really now? Name one weird thing about me!" He readjusts himself so he's facing Tadashi.

"You convinced yourself that you were a gummy bear and cried over the fact you still loved eating gummy bears for 2 hours." Tadashi says confidently as he crosses his arms.

"Every kid goes through a big imagination stage."

"You were 12!"

Hiro can't think of a good comeback for that, so he tackles Tadashi on the bed like they were about to play wrestle. "You're still a big nerd!"

They both laugh, forgetting Dan and Danny are there. Danny smirks. "Who knew you had a soft side, Clockwork."

Tadashi shrugs. "Perhaps you don't know me as well as you think."

Dani walks in to tell them something and sees Hiro and her dad being big dorks with Hiro still laying on top of him. "Alright! Dog pile!" She then proceeds to jump on top of both of them.

Tadashi chuckles at her enthusiasm before holding both of them in a big hug.

Meanwhile, the Observants are watching them through the time portals.

The Grand Master is the first to speak. "He appears to have some sort of attachment to the young halfa and human. He'd do anything to protect them from harm."

"Do you advise that we target his young charges to lure him back?" Observant #2976 inquires.

"Precisely. Now! Get to to work immediately!" The younger Observants scramble to their stations at his command.

 **Sorry for that brief hiatus and the shortness of this chapter. School's been taking up all of my time lately. A bonus minific will be released alongside this chapter, however. So, if you enjoy Meddling Minutes, go to my stories and check it out. Have a good day, everybody.**


	17. Chapter 16

The morning had been relatively peaceful. Everyone was off in their own corners doing what they need to do in the Nerd Lab. Danny was working alongside Dani and Hiro to finish up some of the Ectoblasters when his phone began to ring. He answers the video call only to have his eardrums blown out by Sam and Tuck yelling. "Danny! You're okay!"

Danny rubs his ear in hopes of alleviating the ringing. "Hello to you too."

Tucker ignores his blatant sarcasm. "Dude, where are you? We spent all day looking for you yesterday!"

"It's kinda complicated, Tuck. I'm in Japan-"

"What are you doing in Japan?" Sam interrupts.

"I didn't tell you guy's for a reason, okay? Just, don't worry about me. I'll be back in a couple of days."

Tadashi happened to be passing by at the time and decided now was a good as time as ever to mess with Danny a little. Things have been quite stressful, afterall. He walks over and uses Danny's shoulder as an armrest. "Ah, Samantha, Tucker. It's been awhile."

Danny glares at him. "I'm sorry, did I invite you into the conversation, Clockwork?"

"Who said I required an invite, Daniel?" This remark makes Hiro chuckle.

"Clockwork?!" Sam and Tucker shout in unison.

Tucker can't stop staring. "You-You look, err, different."

"Well, I can't just wander around as a ghost in the human realm, now can I?"

Sam glares at Danny. "Alright, the truth. NOW!"

"You haven't told your girlfriend what's going on? Cruel." Hiro chimes in.

"He/She's not my boy/girlfriend!" They yell at him in unison.

"Oh, my bad. Boyfriend." Hiro corrects himself.

"Who even are you?" Tucker questions annoyed.

Tadashi smirks and pats Danny's shoulder. "I'll leave you four alone." With that he goes back to his station.

Hiro smirks and shakes his head. "Some things never change."

"No, seriously. Who are you? What's going on?" Tucker presses on.

"Clockwork kinda has his own team of humans from his past and ghosts from his present working with him right now." Danny puts simply. "He's dealing with quite a bit of backlash from the Observants right now."

"I thought he wasn't supposed to interact with humans." Sam inquires.

"He really isn't." Dani chimes in. "He doesn't have much of a choice at this point, though. Besides, these humans are all people who already know him. They're family."

Danny nods. "The boy you just talked to is his little brother, Hiro Hamada."

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! He's related to Hiro Hamada?! The Hiro Hamada?!" Tucker begs to know.

"Um. Yeah. Why?" Danny replies in confusion.

"Dude! He's the youngest person to get into SFIT ever! That's, like, the biggest science and technology school in the world!"

Hiro smiles bashfully. "It wasn't that big of a deal."

"Are you kidding me?! That's amazing!"

Tadashi returns to them because Dani needs a bit of assistance with a Blaster. He had been eavesdropping the whole time. He smiles and uses Hiro's head as an armrest. "It really is amazing, Hiro." Hiro jumps slightly in surprise, having not expected his return.

Sam smirks. "Now that I see you two of you together, I can see the family resemblance."

Dany puts the attention of the call back on him. "Okay! Say your goodbyes! We have actual work to do here."

"Party pooper." Dani mumbles.

Danny rolls his eyes and ends the call.

After a long day of work, they all begin to leave and go their separate ways. Tadashi, however feels uneasy. He can just tell something bad is about to happen. "Hold on a minute, everyone." They listen and watch as he opens up a time portal. He's searching for something. His expression turns panicked once he finds what he's looking for. "All the weapons and suits are finished, right?"

"Yeah, I think so." Honey Lemon replies. "Why?"

Tadashi closes the time portal and turns to them. "Looks like we have company." His gaze falls upon Hiro and the rest of Big Hero 6. "Get everyone suited up. Dani, Danny, Dan, and I will get the weapons."


	18. Chapter 17

They find their threat in Ōkina Kōen Park after barely any looking. It was time.

Clockwork leads them all to the portal spilling out Observants. Well, a safe distance from it of course. "Everyone ready?" After he receives nervous nods from everyone, he gives them position instructions via hand signals. He's the only one that remains in front of the Observants as the portal closes.

The head Observant, #1, approaches Clockwork. "I'm very disappointed in you, Clockwork. I thought you were smarter than this!"

"Yes, smarter!" The other Observants chime in unison.

"And I thought I could trust you! I suppose we were both wrong." Clockwork remarks while subtly signalling to his team.

#1 is close to punching out Clockwork's clock as the team begins firing at them. This backfires, however, when the Observants put up their shields. They turn to Big Hero 6 and co and begin firing back in self defense. #1 glares down Clockwork. "If it's a war you want, it's a war you'll get, Clockwork. You'll regret this." #1 turns to his hoard and shouts. "Attack!"

That's when all hell broke loose. 100s of Observants began to fly at the humans and halfas. Hiro and Dani seem to be targeted in particular. Dani can handle herself just fine; Hiro, however, is struggling, but he isn't down yet. One Observant goes for a swing at Hiro and is shocked by the Specter Deflector built into his suit. This, however, doesn't protect him from the flurry of ectoblasts they send him and the team's way.

Clockwork, in the midst of his own battle, notices this and drops everything. He teleports right in front of Dani and Hiro's tag team and opens up a shield around them. #1 and his minions take note of this distraction and take immediate advantage of it once the shield is dropped. They all target Clockwork with every attack they can imagine. He musters through and fights back for as long as he can, but even he isn't that strong. They ha everyone else in his team cornered. No one could defend him.

#1 grabs Clockwork's weakened form and holds him up to his eye. "Had enough yet, Clockwork?"

"Not. Even. Close." Clockwork sneers and sits ectoplasmic blood in his captor's eye.

#1 hisses in pain and drops him, signaling the others to do something. As Clockwork lands, a group of Observants run for him and pin him down. #1 quickly recovers from his optic injury and spawns a crown of blood blossoms. Despite his best efforts to escape, they get the crown on him, causing him to scream and writhe in pain.

Dan's ears perk up in fear when he hears Clockwork's cries. "CLOCKWORK?!" He quickly knocks out the Observant he was fighting and rushes to his boyfriend's side, adrenaline rushing through his ectoplasmic veins. He hisses and growls at the surrounding Observants. "STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" His growling intensifies as an Observant goes to touch Clockwork. "I SAID STAY AWAY!" He grabs the Observant's arm and snaps it like a twig before clawing into their eye and ripping it out.

#1 boldly approaches Dan. "What makes you think you can protect him, really?"

"Yes, how?!" The surrounding Observants echo.

Dan looks him right in the eye. "I made a _vow_ to him!"

If #1 had a face, he'd be smirking sarcastically right about now. "You're still such a human! You made a vow? a promise?" He and the other Observants begin to laugh and mock him.

Dan growls deeply. "Yes. I. PROMISED!" His yell quickly turns inOkay, but imagine this as Clockwork's theme song: /enF6F7DhTDgto a ghostly wail, sending several Observants flying. He hasn't used that much power in years and his body is no longer conditioned to do such things. He collapses to his knees and holds Clockwork close, trying to ignore the pain from the blood blossoms touching his skin. He knows he can't remove the crown without harming himself further, so he simply sits and comforts Clockwork as he waits for his energy to return.

Danny sees this. "Whoa, serious deja vu!" He finishes off the Observant he was fighing an runs to protect Clockwork and Dan from the enclosing Observants.

Meanwhile, Hiro is fighting against 13 different Observants. He gets in a few more shots before his ectoblaster runs out of ammo. The group of one eyed freaks all lunge towards Hiro at once and begin scratching and clawing him having already busted his Specter Deflector.

Hiro cringes from the pain, but tries to maintain his leader attitude. "Why don't you guys just leave me alone?!" He screams when the Observant closest to him's eye turns into a fang filled mouth. He closes his eyes, anticipating the end when there's a flash. He opens his eyes once more when the weight of the Observants suddenly disappears. He looks to his left and sees nothing but swirling green. He stands, surprised that his leg isn't broken, and takes a few steps back. All the Observants are flying into the portal and so are the ghosts.

Dan's holding onto Clockwork for dear life along with a pipe in the ground as Dani and Danny cling to him. Once all the Observants are gone, the portal closes. Everyone seems to relax as they regroup around Clockwork. Honey Lemon is the first to realize how much pain Clockwork is in and quickly removes and throws the crown as far away as possible.

Clockwork cringes as the thorns exit his forehead. "Thank you."

Hiro is slowly putting the pieces together in his head. 'It obviously wasn't Tadashi or Dan who opened the portal. Then who…?' He looks to where the portal once was. 'Wait. Did I-?! No. That doesn't make any sense.' He looks down to his hands. 'Then again, does anything really make any sense anymore?'

Gogo notices his concern and places a gloved hand on his shoulder. "Hey, genius. You okay?"

Hiro flinches as he's pulled out of his train of thought. 'Should I tell them?' He glances at Clockwork who had already been giving him an apologetic stare then back at her. 'No. They have enough on their hands already.' He nods to Gogo. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking…" She, thankfully, doesn't press on the subject further.

Dan comes to the conclusion that Clockwork is in no shape to be floating by himself right now. He picks him up. That's when he notices the broken glass at his feet. He immediately looks to Clockwork's core to confirm his suspicions. "Oh my god…" He looks to Danny. "Hey, runt! Take off my cape!"

"Why should I listen to you?" Danny retaliates.

Dan hisses. "Just do it! NOW!"

Danny puts his hands up in defense and does as he was asked. "Want me to fold it up or something?"

Dan looks down at Clockwork's limp figure worriedly. "Just. Just drape it on him."

That's when Danny notices the huge hole in Clockwork's glass door. He silently understands Dan's anger and drapes the black and white cloth over his mentor's torso.

That's the last thing Clockwork remembers before blacking out.


	19. Chapter 18

Hiro and Dani pass each other as they both pace outside the room, listening, waiting for the news. They both look as Dan exits the room, removing the medical mask Baymax provided for him. Dan takes a deep breath, looking at them. "He's stabilized for now. He should recover in a week if we're lucky."

Hiro nods somberly. "Is he awake?"

"Yeah, I wanna talk with him too." Dani chimes in.

Dan moves out of the way of the door for them with a grunt, signifying a yes. The file in, Dani being the first to speak up as they look him over. "How are you feeling?"

Clockwork smirks weakly. "Like I've been burnt alive…" This earns him a glare from Hiro. "Sorry. Anyways, I don't feel the best, but better than earlier."

Dani nods calmly. "Good, good." She growls and her blue eyes glow green as she shakes him relatively gently considering how pissed she is. "What were you thinking?! Risking your life like that for us! Are you crazy?!"

Hiro gently puts a hand on Dani's shoulder. "Calm down." She listens to his request. Hiro then proceeds to death glare Clockwork. "Seriously, Tadashi! You could've got yourself killed! Did you learn nothing from the fire! Stop risking your life for others like that! We could've handled it!" He doesn't realize it, but his eyes are glowing a brilliant violet along with the clenched palms of his hands.

Dani doesn't notice, however Clockwork does. "Danielle, may I have a moment alone with my brother?"

Dani is thrown by the sudden change in topic. "Err, sure. I guess." She makes sure to close the door behind her.

Clockwork sits up painfully, Hiro helping. "Thank you." He takes a deep breath to prepare himself for this conversation. "Hiro, sit down and calm down." He looks him in the eyes. "We need to talk."

Hiro does as instructed nervously, his eyes returning to normal. "What's up?"

"I guess I should have said something about this sooner. Even I didn't know when this would begin."

"When what would begin? What's going on?" He pauses to think. "Is this about the portal?"

The time master nods. "Hiro… I'm not the first or only one in our family to have time powers."

"Wait. What?! But Mom and Dad didn't-!"

"Shh, shh! Just listen to me. Not everyone acquired these powers. Not in their lifetime that is. These powers, though genetic, only appear under specific circumstances. Near death experiences being the main one."

"Oooookaaay… So, why aren't there a bunch of ghosts like you then?"

"Ghosts only form when the person's death was unnatural. Even then, some ghosts can still pass on into a proper afterlife if they finish up all unfinished business. This rule, however, does not apply to someone like me. I'm in far too deep. I'm possibly trapped in purgatory for all of eternity." He clears his throat after receiving a pitied look from Hiro. "We're getting off topic. Anyways, if you'd like, I could train you. Help you control your powers."

He nods in acknowledgment then pauses to think. "What powers do I have?"

Clockwork shrugs. "I don't know. Due to your time altering abilities, I can no longer monitor your future."

Hiro nods again before standing up and turning to leave.

Clockwork stops him by grabbing his arm. "One more thing. Keep your emotions under control. It seems they're connected to your powers."

Hiro takes a nervous deep breath before pulling away. "Right." He walks to the door and begins to close it behind him. "Get some rest." He closes the door and walks away. Once he's out of his brother's earshot, he slumps against a wall and runs a shaking hand through his hair. "What am I going to do?"

His train of thought is interrupted by the ring of the cafe's front door. Aunt Cass. He rushes downstairs to greet her.

Aunt Cass begins shouting at Hiro as soon as she walks in. "I got your voicemail! Where is he?! Is he okay?! Oh! I should've known better than to leave you guys alone! Why didn't I pick up a book on parenting?!" She looks as though she'd just been crying.

Hiro puts his hands up to calm her. "Aunt Cass, he's fine. Well, kinda… But he's going to survive!"

Cass sighs in relief. "Good… Is he awake? Can I see him?"

"Yes, but, um, there's something I should warn you about first. He's in his natural form right now. It can be a bit intimidating at first, but it's still Tadashi."

She doesn't even take a moment to process what he's said as she runs past him and up to Tadashi and Hiro's room. When she sees him, she backs up, finally processing it all. Tadashi's still dead. This is just a ghost. She can barely even look at him. Not like this.

Clockwork can sense this. "I'm not going to hurt you. You know that, right, Aunt Cass?"

"I-I…." She takes a shaky breath. "Yes. I know. It's just… You really are different."

He chuckles softly. "Yeah, I suppose you're right about that. But it's still me. Different name and appearance, but me nonetheless."

She nods in understanding. "Di-didn't you say something about an amulet thing?"

"Being human right now would stunt the healing process. I'm sorry."

She finally really looks at him. Once she looks past the scars and red eyes, he really doesn't seem so bad. She steps closer, finally noticing Dan's presence. He's not in his human form either. She sends a soft smile towards him. "Thank you for protecting my precious boy."

Dan smiles back. "Just doing what I need to do." He kneels down to his boyfriend's level and kisses his cheek, sitting down on the side of the bed by his legs.

Clockwork smiles and puts his hand on Dan's before looking back up at Aunt Cass. "I suppose I have a lot of explaining to do."


	20. Chapter 19

There sits the Master of All Time in a cocoon of blankets on his bed like a child. The healing process is going slightly faster than they had expected, but that doesn't mean he exactly feels well. Dan has forbidden anyone but him entering the room due to the constant heat waves going through the room. It had been a week and Clockwork still can't regain control over his core.

Dan, sitting backwards in a chair as he watches his boyfriend work through this, sighs. "Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help? This is taking forever. It's boring."

Clockwork glares at him for that last comment. "I highly doubt you can do anything else. You're welcome to try I suppose."

Dan moves the blankets out of the way and attempts to touch the ticking core. The core disagrees with this action and blasts Dan to the room divider, knocking everything over.

He rolls his eyes. "Told you. It just won't work."

Dan recovers quickly. "I have one more idea. I read it in one of your old timey books in the tower." He moves closer once Clockwork gives him a nod of consent. "I hope this works!" He puts his hands over his boyfriend's core, summoning the power of his own core. The both flinch in pain with the bright flash of light. Both men collapse.

They jolt awake simultaneously. Clockwork looks down at his chest, shocked to see the glass fully repaired. "Dan! It worked!"

Dan smirks cockily as he stands up and stretches. "What can I say; I'm just that good." He winks dorkily at Clockwork before he's yanked down. "Clocky?"

It's his turn to smirk. He simply kisses Dan's nose in appreciation, enjoying the blush that crawls across both their faces. "Thank you."

"No, thank you for boring me to death with those books." They both chuckle before coming together in another kiss.

The blissful, private moment doesn't last very long. It's put to an abrupt end when Cass barges in, yelling. "What in the world did you two do?! All I saw was a spark of light from this room and screaming then the power went out!"

They from her to each other and back to her awkwardly. Dan speaks up. "I fixed him at least."

Cass's face scrunches her face in confusion. "I'm sorry, what?"

Clockwork floats into a standing position next to Dan. "He shared his core energy with me to heal me."

"Oh, um, okay…" She just accepts this and leaves, mumbling. "I will never understand this ghost stuff."

 **Sorry for the short chapter. Next one will be longer and way more entertaining, I can guarantee.**


	21. Chapter 20

Clockwork sits in an office chair in the living room as he awaits one more person's arrival. When Honey Lemon runs through the door he 'stands'. "Good, everyone's here. Now we can start." He states simply, putting his hands together.

Honey Lemon sees him and rushes to him with a big hug. "You're okay! I'm so glad! We were all so worried about you!"

The hug startles him at first. He hugs back so she'll let go. He places his hands on her shoulders, smiling slightly. "Yes, I'm fine. We can talk about that later." He directs his attention to the ghosts and Hiro in the room. "So, since I've recovered, the Observants won't be far behind with another attack. I have some weapons in the clocktower that could possibly help us."

Hiro raises an eyebrow. "Clocktower?"

Clockwork nods. "My home in the Ghost Zone. I request you all come with me as I have yet to decide which weapons I wish to take. I could use the extra hands." The ghost trio nods to confirm their willingness to participate. Hiro and Honey Lemon, on the other hand, kind of just stare at him like he's insane.

Honey Lemon is the first to speak up. "But wouldn't the Observants expect you to go there?"

"Precisely. That's why, instead of teleporting directly into my tower, we are going to go in from the outside. They will just assume some random ghosts are breaking in to ransack the place. It's not unusual, afterall."

Honey Lemon and Hiro share a look before nodding. "Okay, we'll help you. Just, be careful."

Clockwork smiles, pleased with this teamwork before looking over at Danny. "Daniel, you still carry around the mini Fenton Bazooka, correct?"

Danny scoffs indignantly as he whips it out. "Do you seriously doubt me?"

"Good. Let's go."

Hiro cuts in. "Wait! right now?!"

Clockwork looks at him with honest confusion. "Did I not say we don't have much time to do this?"

"Right. Okay."

Danny opens up the portal. "Brace yourself, guys. This place is super creepy the first time around."

With that they all jump in.

Honey Lemon takes in her environment alongside Hiro. She's already very uncomfortable. "Well, at least it's a pretty shade of green."

Clockwork rolls his eyes. "Trust me, it gets old quick." He readjusts his hood to insure his face is hidden before he begins to lead them in the proper direction. "Daniel, we're far too close to the city."

"Hey! It's not like I can control where it sends us!" Danny defends.

Hiro cringes, not appreciating the whole floating part. Without thinking he grabs on to Clockwork's hand for help. He can feel his strong, comforting hand wrap around his smaller one bringing about a small smile. Just like his first day of highschool.

Dan pauses for a moment in front of a door with hand drawn posters on it. "No, no, no! This is bad!" He rips down one of the posters to get a better look at it. "This is very bad! This is so, so bad!" He turns it around to show them that it's a wanted poster. "They never get my hair right!"

Clockwork glares at him. "Really? That's what bothers you? Not that we're on wanted posters, but that you look bad?"

"Yes!" Dan shouts in exasperation. "I mean, look at yours! You look badass!"

Clockwork shrugs. "Not the best one they've done of me thus far." He rips it off the door and crumples it up, tossing it into oblivion. "Now, let's get a move on."

It takes them an hour, but they finally make it. Hiro and Honey Lemon stare in awe. "Th-This is your house?!" Honey Lemon stutters out.

"More like prison, but yes." Clockwork sighs. "They didn't want me to want to leave."

"Oh.." Honey Lemon states apologetically.

Hiro smirks sarcastically. "Nice keep out signs."

Clockwork disregards that comment as he ectoblasts the door knob out. He steps in with the rest, examining the boobytraps. "Fuck it, we don't have time for this. Dan, cut the power."

Hiro fake coughs. "Swear Jar."

Clockwork sighs. "When we get home."

Dan channels his core to power off all the electronics in the tower. He then smirks at his boyfriend with glowing eyes. "A swear jar? You're kidding."

The ghost of time's cheeks literally glow with embarrassment. "It's no big deal, Dan…"

Dan's smirk grows as he takes a deep breath, prepared to say every curse word he knows in every language he knows.

Clockwork is quick to get over to him and cover his mouth. "No need for that!"

"I'm prepared to pay in a much better way than just a jar." Dan states bluntly before planting a kiss on Clockwork, earning him a glare. "Oh, come on! Lighten up!"

He sighs. "I will when all our lives are out of danger." He lights a fire in his hands and guides them through the tower. "All of you, touch nothing unless I give you permission to."

As they pass by the time observation room, Hiro grows distracted. He stops and stares at the green swirling orbs. It's like the time stream is calling him. He begins to slowly step towards them, extending a hand out to touch. He stops inches from one of the orbs when he feels a hand on his shoulder. He looks up to see his older brother.

A look of concern fills the older Hamada's face. "Hiro, what did I just say?" He realizes he doesn't have his full attention. Hiro is just so distracted by the voices. "Hey, you okay?" He kneels to Hiro's level.

Hiro notices the purple aura that once again engulfs his hands. "They. They want me to look. I-I have to…" He reaches for the orb again before Clockwork can stop him and touches it. Everyone watches as the screen changes rapidly. The timeline is far too much for Hiro to handle.

Clockwork manages to deactivate the orb and pull Hiro away before he collapses into his big brother's arms. Hiro holds his throbbing head. "Tadashi… It hurts. I-I… I'm sorry."

Clockwork holds him close. "It's okay. I understand how desirable the timestream can be." He floats upright with Hiro in his arms just as a security alarm goes off. "Dan! I thought you shut the power off!"

"I did! The Observants must've turned it back on!" Dan yells in defense.

Clockwork growls in frustration as he opens up a portal to the alleyway outside the cafe and rushes everyone through. He immediately closes it as soon as everyone is out to insure no one else follows. "Well, there goes that plan."

Hiro mumbles, still in his arms, too weak to possibly stand right now. "I know how to defeat them. I saw it. The outcome-"

Clockwork shifts into Tadashi before realizing what Hiro said and gives him a stern look. "Hiro, I saw that too. We are not doing that!"

"But it will save you!"

"Hiro! Listen to me for once in your life!" He snaps. "Look, it's too risky! Now drop it!"

Hiro decides to risk it and jumps out of Tadashi's arms. "No! You listen!"

"I said no! We're not doing it! NOW DROP IT!" His eyes glow a furious red, causing Hiro to flinch back in fear. He realizes what he's done and takes a deep breath to calm down. "Hiro, I didn't mean to scare you."

Hiro looks him up and down. "I was right. You're not really my brother anymore." He runs off.

Tadashi is beyond hurt by this. "Hiro wait!" He begins to chase after him.


End file.
